
Glass -£". 5 
Book XB °L2l. 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS 



OR 



Lives and Wonderful Adventures 

OF 

Wild Bill, Buffalo Bill, Kit Carson, Capt. 

Payne, "White Beaver," Capt. Jack, 

Texas Jack, California Joe, 



\\I> OTHER 

Celebrated Indian Fighters, Scouts, Hunters and Guides 

INCLUDING 

A TRUE AND THRILLING HISTORY OF GEN. CUSTER'S FAMOUS "LAST 

FIGHT" ON THE LITTLE BIG HORN, WITH SITTING DULL; ALSO A 

SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF SITTING BULL, AND HIS ACCOUNT 

OF THE CUSTER MASSACRE, AS RELATED TO THE 

AUTHOR IN PERSON. 

By jr. \A7\ BUEL, 

Author of "Russian Nihilism and Exile Life in Siberia," "Mystei . and 
Miseries of America's Great Cities," "Border Outlaws," etc., etc. 



P IK) FUSEL Y ILLUSTRATED 




ST. 

HISTORICAL PUBLISHING CO., 
L884. 



,B1J 



Copyright, iSSj, by J. W. Buel. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



The work of preparing a brief history of the greatest 
of plains-heroes has been one of especial pleasure to me, 
although at times many obstacles interposed themselves 
which only perseverance could remove. But the labor, 
nevertheless, has afforded me no little enjoyment, as it 
brought to my immediate consideration deeds of prow- 
ess, cunning and endurance, putting to a test the meas- 
ure of man's possibilities in a particular field of action. 
It is our natural disposition to admire true heroes, and 
not only to admire, but to exalt their acts, and this uni- 
versal feeling, perhaps exaggerated in myself, was one 
of the motives which impelled me into a preparation 
of "Heroes of the Plains." While this volume 
abounds with thrilling adventures, sanguinary encoun- 
ters and personal combats of the most startling charac- 
ter, yet through every page there is observed a thread 
of wholesome justice, upon which is strung every deed 
recounted, preserving a forcible and moral influence 
beneficial to young and old alike. 

In compiling these personal histories I have adhered 
strictly to facts without florid coloring. I was well ac- 
quainted with Wild Bill for several years before his death, 
and in 1879 wrote a pamphlet sketch of his life, but dis- 
covered afterward that while it contained comparatively 

few of his adventures, there were several mortifying er- 
l 



10 author's preface 

rors, a correction of which influenced me to write another 
sketch of the famous scout, and this labor developed into 
" Heroes of the Plains." I was fortunate in securing 
Wild Bill's diary from his widow, Mrs. Agnes Lake 
Hickok, of Cincinnati, from which I have drawn my facts 
concerning him, that there might be no mistakes or 
omissions in recounting the marvelous exploits of his life 
in this publication. 

Buffalo Bill, who now stands unchallenged as the 
greatest plainsman living, was an intimate friend of 
Wild Bill, and the two, so long connected in their won- 
derful careers, deserve a conjunctive position in history, 
such as I have here given them. 

The other heroes, Kit Carson, Capt. Jack, Gen. Custer, 
Capt. Payne, California Joe, and Texas Jack, have each 
made their private mark over the wild expanse of West- 
ern wilderness, in the highway they so ably assisted in 
preparing for civilization and its peaceful pursuits : teem- 
ing harvests, happy homes, the building of cities, exten- 
sion of commerce and all attendant blessings. They 
fought the fight whose victory has moved the center of 
wealth and population Westward, and therefore deserve 
the exultant recognition of every American whose patri- 
otism extends from the heart to the soil of his nativity. 

J. W. B. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



ILLUMINATED TITLE. Page. 

J. B. Hickok (Wild Bill), .... 2 o 

Wild Bill's Birth Place,- - - - - -22 

Disembarking in a Kansas Mob, ... 27 

Wild Bill Driving into Santa Fe, - - - -31 

Wild Bill and his Men Charging the Indian Camp, 35 

WILD BILL AND THE CINNAMON BEAR, - - 39 

WILD BILL'S FIGHT WITH THE McCANDLAS GANG, 45 

A Close Shave, • - - - - - - 56 

Wild Bill in Disguise, ----- 67 

Wild Bill Surprises the Sleepy Sentinel, - - - 71 

Man-to-yu kee (Conquering Bear), ... 77 

WILD BILL'S DUEL WITH CONQUERING BEAR, - 83 

Wild Bill and Mrs. Rogers in the Park, - - - 89 

Wild Bild Satisfies the Natives, - - - - 94 

A Duel with Four Men ----- 97 

WILD BILL KILLING BLACK KETTLE, - - - 101 

Scenery on the Route Traveled by the Wilson Party, - - 109 

The Principal Amusement at Hays City, - - - III 

WILD BILL'S FIGHT WITH FIFTEEN SOLDIERS, - 119 

The Aboriginal Part of the Outfit, - - - - 129 

The Bear and the Sausages, - 131 

A Street in Abilene, - 134 

A Ride for Life, ... - .. 1^ 

Wild Bill Accidentally Kills a Friend, - - - 136 

PUNISHING A BOGUS CHARACTER, - - 165 

The Cabin in the Black Hills, - - - - 171 

Wild Bill and the Fox, ----- 17^5 

Taking Desperate Chances, - 177 

Wild Bill's Miraculous Escape from the Indians, - - 179 

Deadwood in Embryo, ----- jg6 

ASSASSINATION OF WILD BILL, - - - 189 

Execution of Jack McCall, - 205 

Wild Bill's Grave, _ . . 209 

Gen. Forsyth and his Beleaguered Scouts, - - - 222 
Pony Express, ------ 223 

Hon. Win. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), - - - 224 

Stabbing of Buffalo Bill's Father, ... - 230 

Battle of Ash Hollow, ----- 245 

The Attack on the Stage Coach, - 267 

Inside the Robbers' Dug-Out, - 271 

BUFFALO BILL WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP, - - 297 

AMBUSHING THE INDIANS, 303 

" Hi yi yip-yah" — The Attack, - 313 

Beaver Creek, the Trapper's Elysian, - - - 317 

BUFFALO BILL IN CLOSE QUARTERS, - - 322 

Buffalo Bill Tries a Shot at Long Range, ... 329 

Major Frank North, - 332 

Silver Bricks awaiting Shipment, .... -5^6 

Death of Tall Bull, - .... 344 

Two Indians at One Shot, ----- 347 

The Marriage Ceremony, - - - 353 
"How! How!" ------ 356 

The Grand Duke's First Buffalo, 358 

11 



12 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Residence of Hon. W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) at North Platte, Neb., 374 

Brevent Major-Gen. Geo. A. Custer, ... 377 

Gen. Custer's Interpreter Addressing the Assembled Sioux, - 380 

DEATH OF GENERAL CUSTER, - - 389 

The Monument where Custer Fell, ... 392 

BUFFALO BILL'S DUEL WITH YELLOW HAND, - - 397 

A Shot that Beat William Tell's, 407 

California Joe, -_...- 418 

CALIFORNIA JOE AT THE STAKE, 423 

The Indians Receiving the White Girl into their Canoe, - - 435 

CALIFORNIA JOE ATTACKED BY A PANTHER, - 446 

California Toe Saves his Friend, - 448 

"^Ugh! White Man," ----- 451 

Kit Carson and his Blind Horse, - 458 

Kit Carson Employed as a Horse Tamer, •■ - - 463 

Treed by a Hungry Grizzly, - 472 

Hunting the Trail, ----- 474 

Carson's Duel with the Frenchman, - - - - 478 

Kit Carson Saves his Fallen Comrade, - - - 481 

Carson's Fight with a Mexican Lion, - 483 

Kit Carson's Indian Wife, .... 484 

Carson and the Wounded Buffalo, .... 489 

Scene in Taos, N. M., ----- 494 

Capt. D. L. Payne, ..... 498 

THE MURDER OF MRS. BLINN, - - - 509 

Marching Through the Snow, - 512 

Departure of the Cheyennes, - • - - - 517 

A Cheyenne Warrior, ..... 525 

Colonel Coppinger Visits the Camp, ... 529 

Drilling the Colonists, ..... ^j 2 

White Beaver (Dr. D. F. Powell), 534 

White Beaver Charging the Indians, ... - 543 

A Ghastly Duel, ..... 546 

White Beaver's Desperate Fight for Life, - - 554 

The Fight in Massacre Canon, .... 557 

Combat with the Norwegian, - 561 

Punishment of an Indian Adulteress, ... 564 

Sitting Bull, - - - - - - 572 

Surrender of Sitting Bull and his people, ... 577 

Rain-in-the-Face, ------ 581 

Crow- King, ------ 585 

Gall, ------- 589 

Low-Dog, ------ 591 

Diagram of the Custer Battle-Field, ... - 594 

Final Charge of the Indians on Custer's Men, - - 597 

Custer's Last Shot, ..... 598 

Capt. Jack, the Poet Scout, - - - - boo 

Oura, ------- 605 

Texas Jack, ------ 607 

Jack Holding the Indians at Bay, .... 609 

Flagging Antelope, - - - - - 61 l 



CONTENTS. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 

PACK- 
CHAPTER I.— Birth— Family History— Early Life— Youthful 
Hunting Adventures — Desperate Fight on a Towpath— 
Leaves Home to take part in the Kansas War — Receives 
the Title of "Shanghai Bill" — Lively Times in Kansas, 21 — -30 
CHAPTER II. — Stage Driving across the Plains — Trouble with the 
Indians — Bill Leads an Expedition against them — Desper- 
ate Fight and Brilliant Victory — Freighting to New Mexico 
— Terrific Fight with a Cinnamon Bear — Bill Cleans out the 
McCandlas Gang at Rock Creek, and wins the Title of 
"Wild Bill," - - - - - - 30—50 

CHAPTER III.— Wild Bill Enlists in the Union Army— Remarka- 
ble Shooting at Pea Ridge — Becomes a Spy for General 
Curtis — Makes his way to the Confederates and becomes 
an Orderly to Gen. Price — Desperate Adventure with Jake 
Lawson — A Ride for Life — An Unprofitable Horse Race, 50 — 63 
CHAPTER IV.— Wild Bill again enters the Confederate Lines- 
Humorous Adventure with an Old Darkey — Assumes the 
role of an Arkansaw Traveler — Is Detected and Condemned 
to be Shot — Escapes by Killing his Guard, - - 63 — 72 

CHAPTER V. — Bill Declines longer to serve as a Spy — Remarkable 
Adventure with Three Bushwhackers — Black Nell — Bowie- 
Knife Duel with Conquering Bear, - 72 — 85 

CHAPTER VI.— Mary Logan, the Beautiful Indian Girl— Her 
Singular Infatuation for Wild Bill — The Romance of Love 
— Mary Logan Poisons her Husband and Disappears For- 
ever — Duel with Dave Tutt, in which Bill " Satisfies the 
Natives," ------ 86 — 95 

CHAPTER VII.— Wild Bill Fights a Duel with Four Men— Expedi- 
tion Against Black Kettle — Desperate Battle on the Wachita 
—Bill Kills Black Kettle, - 96—103 

CHAPTER VIII.— Wild Bill Visits Chicago— Some Roughs try to 
Tame him — Ignominious Failure of the Attempt — Bill Re- 
ceives a Letter from Vice-President Wilson — Serves as 
Guide for the Vice-President's Party, and is Presented with 
a Pair of Ivory-Handled Pistols — Bill is Elected Marshal of 
Hays City, -----. 103—112 

13 



14 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX.— Jack Strawhan's Fatal Mistake— Bill Mulyey un- 
dertakes to ''Run the Town" — But Runs against Wild 
Bill's Pistol — Desperate Fight with 16 Soldiers, - 113 — 124 

CHAPTER X.— Wild Bill's Buffalo Speculation— Captures a Herd 
of Wild Buffaloes and Exhibits them at Niagara — Result, 
Bankruptcy — Bill becomes Marshal of Abilene, Kan. — • 
Fatal Row with Phil Cole— Wild Bill and the Professor of 
Pugilism, ------ 124 — 139 

CHAPTER XL— $5,000 offered for Wild Bill's Heart— Eight Texas 
Desperadoes Accept the Offer, but fail to Deliver the Goods 
— Death of Bill Thompson — Wild Bill Kills and Scalps 
Phil Cole's Cousin, - 140 — 149 

CHAPTER XII.— Mrs. Lake Finds a Champion in Wild Bill— Who 
Makes a Speech in her Favor — Bill Visits Kansas City — 
Description of that Place in its Early Days — Bill Tames a 
Rash Young Man, - - - - - 150—156 

CHAPTER XIII.— Wild Bill as an Actor— The Tricks he played on 
the "Supes" — Settles a Crowd of Roughs, who were 
Spoiling to Fight the entire Combination — Adventure with 
a Party of Merchants at Portland, Maine — Wild Bill makes 
? Decided Hit — Cleans out a Bogus Theatrical Troupe for 
using his Name without Authority — Goes West again — Is 
Attacked by Two Villains and Kills them Both, - 156 — 169 

CHAPTER XIV.— Expedition to the Black Hills— Adventure with 
the Silver Grey Fox — Bill's Companions Attacked and 
Killed by Indians — His own Marvelous Adventures and 
Final Escape, ... ... 170 — 1S0 

CHAPTER XV— Wild Bill Accidentally meets Mrs. Lake— Pro- 
poses Marriage, is Accepted, and the Wedding takes place 
— Pleasant Visit to Cincinnati — Sketch of Mrs. Lake and 
her Daughter Emma, ..... 180 — iS^ 

CHAPTER XVI.— Bill's Last Expedition to the Black Hills— Affec- 
tionate Letter to his Wife — Assassination of Wild Bill by 
Jack McCall, 185—192 

CHAPTER XVII. — The Murderer's Trial and Acquittal, - 192 — 195 

CHAPTER XVIIL— Funeral of Wild Bill— California Joe's Warn- 
ing to the Murderer — Capt. Jack's Poem on the Burial of 
Wild Bill, 19 8 — 2"3 

CHAPTER XIX.— Second Trial of Jack McCall— His Conviction 

and Execution — Pathetic Letter from his Sister, - 203 — 207 

CHAPTER XX.— Removal of Wild Bill's Remains, which are 
found to be Petrified — "Wild Bill's Grave" — Peculiarities 
of the Great Scout — His Love for Black Nell — His Wonder- 
ful Dexterity in the use of Fire Arms — Gen. Custer's Opin- 
ion of Wild Bill, 207—221 



CONTENTS. 15 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 

CHAPTER I. — Birth and Early Life — Experiences with Mormons 
and Frontier Characters — The Kansas Troubles — Attempt- 
ed Assassination of Billy's Father — Billy Rescues his Father 
from a Mob — Attempt to Blow up the Cody Residence with 
Powder, ------ 225—234 

CHAPTER II. — Billy runs away from Home to become a Herder — 
Returns with his Pockets full of Silver, which he gives to 
his Mother — Goes to School — His First Sweetheart — Fight 
with his Rival— " I'm killed! I'm killed!" — Billy again 
Leaves Home to Escape Imaginary Dangers— Is Followed 
by his Rival's Father— But Escapes his Fury — Death of the 
Elder Mr. Cody- -Billy's Efforts to Help his Mother — His 
First Fight with Indians — The Retreat — Billy Slays the 
"Biggest Indian in the Outfit" — Returns Home to Find 
himself Famous, ------ 234—242 

CHAPTER III. — Billy " Goes West" again — Description of Over- 
land Freighting— A Singular Obligation — " Bull- Whack- 
ers " and " Cow-Boys " — The Camp Wrecked by a Buffalo 
Stampede— Captured by Mormons — Who Rob the Train, 
but Release the Men — Perilous March across the Plains — 
Desperate Fight with Indians — Billy Shoots a Warrior at 
Long Range — The Rescue — Trapping — Camping in a Grave 
Yard, 243—253 

CHAPTER IV. — "Pike's Peak or Bust" — " Busted "—The Re- 
turn — Adventures on a Raft — Billy becomes a "Pony Ex- 
press" Rider, 254—257 

CHAPTER V. — Billy and Dave Harrington as Trappers — The Ac- 
cident — Alone on the Prairie — Visited by Indians — Twenty- 
Nine Days of Lonely Suffering — Help at Last — The Return 
—Death of Noble Dave Harrington, - - 257—263 

CHAPTER VI. — Stage Driving — Narrow Escape from Massacre — 

Battle of Clear Creek, ... - 264—269 

CHAPTER VII.— Billy's Adventure with the Robbers— Kills one 

of the Band and Escapes by Shrewd Strategy, - 269—275 

CHAPTER VIII.— The Great Civil War—" Red Legs " and " Bor- 
der Ruffians" — Billy's Service as a Soldier and Scout — 
Adventure in Southern Missouri, - - - 275 — 280 

CHAPTER IX. — Close of the War — Billy falls in Love and is Mar- 
ried—Wedding Trip to Kansas— The Boat Attacked by 
Bushwhackers — Ovation at Leavenworth — Housekeeping — 
Scouting for Gen. Custer, - - - - 280 — 285 



lti CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER X.— The " Colored Troops " fail to Fight Nobly— But 
Unlimber Themselves and " Light Out " — Saved by the 
Darkness — A Town Speculation — Rome " Howls " — Dr. 
Webb and his Little Scheme — Rome does not prove to be 
an Eternal City — Buffalo Hunting — Cody Wins the Title of 
"Buffalo Bill," ..... 285—291 

CHAPTER XL -The Great Buffalo Hunting Contest— Numerous 
Visitors — Great Excitement — Magnificent Display of Skill 
in Riding and Shooting — Buffalo Bill Wins the Stakes, 292 — 299 

CHAPTER XII.— Bill is Captured by Indians— But Escapes through 
Strategy and the Fleetness of his Mule — The Ambush — 
Marvelous Riding as a Dispatch Carrier — The "Govern- 
ment Mule," -..--. 299 — 311 

CHAPTER XIIL— Gen. Forsythe's Desperate Battle with the Indi- 
ans — Buffalo Bill as Scout and Hunter — Drives a Herd of 
Buffaloes into Camp and Kills them — Fighting Indians — 
Close Quarters, - 311 — 320 

CHAPTER XIV.— The Battle with Black Kettle's Band— Pursuit 
of Horse Thieves — "Throw up your Hands, or I'll Kill 
You," .... . 320 — 327 

CHAPTER XV. —Buffalo Bill Kills an Indian at Long Range- 
Major North and his Pawnees — Numerous Indian Fights, 328 — 339 

CHAPTER XVI.— Scouts and Battles— Buffalo Bill shoots Tall 

Bull— Camp Life, 339—345 

CHAPTER XVIL— Buffalo Bill's Wonderful Horsemanship— He 
Kills Two Indians at One Shot — The Pawnee Sentinel — 
Buffalo Bill as a 'Squire — A New Way to " Replevin " a 
Stolen Horse — The Wedding Ceremony, - - 345 — 353 

CHAPTER XVIII.— Buffalo Bill Serves as Guide for Distinguished 
Hunting Parties — The Duke Alexis — Spotted Tail and his 
Indians — The Duke Kills his First Buffalo — Bill Treats him 
to a "Western Stage Drive" — Buffalo Bill Visits New 
York on the Invitation of Prominent Citizens — Another 
Brush with the Indians, .... 354 — 363 

CHAPTER XIX.— Buffalo Bill is Elected a Member of tl.e Legis- 
lature — Ned Buntline Makes him an Offer to go on the 
Stage — Bill and Texas Jack Learning their Parts — Splendid 
Success, ----- - 363 — 372 

CHAPTER XX.— Acting and Scouting— Death of Little Kit— Prep- 
arations for the Little Big Horn Expedition, - 373 — 382 

CHAPTER XXL— History of the Unfortunate Expedition to the 

Little Big Horn— Custer's Last Fight and Death, - 382—393 

CHAPTER XXII.— Buffalo Bill's Duel with Yellow Hand— "The 

First Scalp for Custer," • • - 393~ 39fl 



CONTENTS. 17 

CHAPTER XXIII.— Scouting on a Steamboat— The Bad Lands- 
Marvelous Ride and Narrow Escape — Viewing an Indian 
Buffalo Hunt from Ambush — A Bridle of Indian Scalps — 
Success on the Stage — $48,000 Cleared in One Season — A 
Shot that Beat William Tell' s, - 400—408 

CHAPTER XXIV.— The Author visits Buffalo Bill— The Famous 
Scout's Home and Family — His Great Popularity -at Home 
— Wonderful Riding and Shooting — Buffalo Bill's Liberal- 
ity — A Humorous Incident at Church — An Indian's Con- 
tempt for a Watch — Other Incidents and Anecdotes, 408 — 416 

LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 

CHAPTER I.— Who was California Joe ?— The Mystery that En- 
shrouded him — The Indian Massacre — Captured and Con- 
demned to the Stake — Rescued by a Party of Trappers 
after the Fire is Kindled, - 419 — 425 

CHAPTER II.— A Romance of Love — Capt. Jack's Poem— Joe 

Rescues Hazel Eye, - 425 — 436 

CHAPTER III. — Service as Scout During the War — Scouting on 
the Plains — Gen. Custer's Description of California Joe — 
"An Ambulance Man er a Hoss Man" — Silent Jack Corbin 
— Joe and Jack's Ride — A Bear Hunt — Ambushing the 
Indians — "Boys, you kin hev the Fixtures, but the Scalps 
are Mine," .--_.. 4^5 — ^^ 

CHAPTER IV. — Joe's Terrific Combat with a Mexican Couger — 
California Joe and Jack Corbin in the Black Hills — Joe 
Saves his Friend's Life — " Ugh ! White Man! " - 444 — 452 

CHAPTER V.— Joe's Weakness— Must have " Pie"— His practical 
joke on the Big Soldier — "The Grave of Poor Amos 
Billings " — Incidents and Anecdotes — Murder of California 
J oe » 45 2 —457 

LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

CHAPTER I. — Personal Characteristics — Uncertainty of Kit's 
Birth Place — Early Days in Missouri — Expedition to Santa 
Fe — Becomes a Mexican Horse Tamer — Engages in Trap- 
ping — Trip to California — Pursuit of Digger Indians — 
Charging through their Camp in the Darkness — Kit kills a 
Mexican — Fights with Indians, ... 459 — 469 

CHAPTER II. — Hunting and Trapping in Colorado — Kit pursues 
an Indian Horse Thief — Overtakes and Kills him — Treed by 
a Grizzly Bear — Trailing Indians in the Snow— A Council 



18 CONTENTS. 

that Ended in a Fight — Kit Carson is badly Wounded in an 
Effort to Save a Comrade — Carson's Duel with the Arro- 
gant Frenchman, - 469 — 478 

CHAPTER III. — Expedition into the Blackfeet Country — Threaten- 
ed with Starvation — Combats with the Blackfeet — Carson 
Saves a Fallen Comrade — Trapping on the Great Salt 
Lake — Terrible Fight with a Mexican Lion — Kit Carson's 
Indian Wife — Her Death and Kit's visit to St. Louis- 
Serves as Scout in the Fremont Expedition — Graphic De- 
scription of a Buffalo Hunt — Carson's Narrow Escape from 
a Wounded Buffalo, - 479 — 490 

CHAPTER IV. — The Second Fremont Expedition — Exploring the 

Great Salt Lake — Terrible Hardships and Sufferings, 490 — 493 

CHAPTER V. — Carson's Service in the Mexican War — Saves a 
Party of Americans from Annihilation — Close of the Mexi- 
can War — Carson's Home in New Mexico — Commissioned 
Brigadier General — Death of Kit Carson, - - 493 — 497 

LIFE OF CAPT. D. L. PAYNE. 

CHAPTER I.— Early Life— Goes West to Fight the Mormons- 
Unprofitable Speculation in a Saw Mill — Hunting on the 
Plains of Kansas — Payne's intimacy with Kit Carson, Wild 
Bill, Buffalo Bill, California Joe, and other Noted Plains- 
men — Service in the Cival War — The Pompous i <utch In- 
specting Officer — Payne as a Sailor — The Joke he played on 
a couple of Starchy Officers — A Gallant Adventure at the 
Battle of Prairie Grove, - 49S — 507 

CHAPTER II. — Close of the War — Scouting on the Plains — Capt- 
ure of Three White Ladies by Indians — The Pursuit and Re- 
capture — Terrible Sufferings during the Expedition — Ten 
Cheyenne Chiefs in a Close Tlace — Payne and the Lively 
Mule — Surrounded and Hemmed In — Saved by Daring and 
Skill — Capt. Payne's Election to the Kansas Legislature — 
The Oklahoma Movement — Payne's Arrest and Trial — Per- 
sonal Characteristics, ..... 507 — 533 

LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 

CHAPTER I. — Character of the Hero— His Indian Mother— Early 
Life — His Inherited and Acquired Knowledge of Medicine 
— Death of Mrs. Powell — First Adventures on the Plains — 
" Follow Me Who Will." .... 534—542 

CHAPTER II.— A Fierce Fight With Twenty Sioux— Sends Him- 
self to the Louisville Medical College — A Pistol Duel in a 



CONTENTS. 19 

Ghostly Dissecting-room — Return to the Plains — Buffalo Bill's 
Story of Powell's Noble Nature — How He Saved Chief " Rocky 
Bear's" Daughter — Bestowal of the Name "White Beaver" 
Upon Him by Rocky Bear, - 542 — 550 

CHAPTER III.— To the Rescue of An Unfortunate Girl— His Duel 
With the Royall Brothers — Joins a Band of " Cut Off" Sioux — 
Dreadful Fight With Arrapahoe Indians — Desperately Wound- 
ed With a Lance — Saved by Rocky Bear, - - 550 — 550 

CHAPTER IV.— Terrible Sight In Massacre Canon— Discovery of 
the Cheyenne Camp — White Beaver Heads the Charge — A 
Terrible Alternative — "The Chief Must Be Cured or White 
Beaver Shall Die'' — He Cures the Chief, and is Made Medicine 
Man of the Nation — Removal to Lanesboro — Desperate Fight 
With a Norwegian — Encounter With a Member of Crazy 
Horse's Band — How He Killed the Indian, - - 555 — 565 

CHAPTER V.— Marriage of White Beaver— His Estimable Wife 
and Her Influence — He Joins Buffalo Bill's Combination — 
White Beaver Suppresses an Indian War Dance in Chicago — 
And Cracks " Long Trailer's" Skull — His Removal to 
LaCrosse, Wis. — Established as Proprietor of a Surgical Insti- 
tute — His Extraordinary Success and Practice in Surgery — 
Besought by Numerous Indian Tribes to Return and be Their 
Medicine Chief— His Skill as a Rifle and Pistol Shot, - 565—571 

SITTING BULL'S STORY OF THE CUSTER 
MASSACRE. 

CHAPTER I.— Sitting Bull's Taciturnity— The Author's Visit to the 
Great Warrior — A Cordial Reception — Sitting Bull not a Chief 
But a Prophet — A Brief History of His Career — Attending an 
Indian Funeral — Back into Camp With Sitting Bull — The 
Author's Interview with the Distinguished Chief — Graphic 
History of a Painful Memory — How the Last Survivor Died — 
A Story that Melts the Heart With Pity — Identification of a 
Skeleton by Teeth With Gold Fillings, - - - 572—588 

CHAPTER II. — Story of Lakotah, the Squaw-warrior, 
Who Fought Against Custer — Lakotah, the Wife of Chief 
Spotted Horn Bull — Her Fierce Fight with Chief Gall — The 
Author's Introduction to Lakotah — Her Willingness to Tell the 
Story of Custer's Defeat — Explaining the Battle by Means of a 
Diagram — Reno's First Attack — An Inexcusable Retreat — 
First Appearance of Custer on the Scene — Caught in an 
Ambush — A Storm of Death — Not a Soldier Left — What Shall 
the Heroes' Portion Be? .... 588 — 599 

Sketch of Capt. Jack, the Poet Scout, - - 600 — 606 

Sketch of Texas Jack, (J. B. Omohundro), - - 607 — 612 




J. B. IIICKOK, 

(Wild Bill.) 



Heroes of the Plains. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 

(J. B. Hickok.) 



CHAPTER I. 



It is a noticeable fact that nearly all our sturdy f ron= 
tier characters are natives of the West ; there is, appar- 
ently, something in the atmosphere, in the wild winds 
which freight the air with primeval perfume ; an unde- 
fined elemental principle which inoculates Western chil- 
dren with a desire for adventure. Our hero, of course, 
belongs to that longitudinal nativity where the prairies 
bathe their feet at the margins of eastern forests, and 
then roll away to the Occident, resting at that great ridge 
which rises ruggedly into the vertebrae of a continent. 

James Butler Hickok, known to history only as ' ' Wild 
Bill," was born in La Salle county, Illinois, near the 
country village of Troy Grove, on the 27th of May, 
1837. His parents were both natives of Vermont, from 
which State they removed, directly after marriage, to 
New York. After following farming for some time in 
the Empire State, and meeting with indifferent success, 
in 1834 the family, now consisting of the parents and 
two children, packed up their few possessions and re- 
moved to Illinois, going overland in a " mover's wagon," 
as was the customary mode of traveling in that early 
period. A place for settlement was chosen in Putnam 
county, but two years afterward a more desirable location 
was found in La Salle county, the homestead then selected 

21 



22 



HEROES OF THE 1'LAIXS. 



and entered proving so satisfactory that it is still occu- 
pied by two survivors of the family. 

The house in which Wild Bill was bom was built in 
1836 and stood, fronting east, upon a prairie one-half 
mile from the timber skirting little Vermillion creek. 
The house is still standing, and occupied, but the progress 
of rapid settlement in Illinois has reared the village of 
Homer about the pioneer's home, and the birth-place of 
our hero is now situated in the southeast corner of block 



am 










Wild Bill's Birth Place. 

number thirteen of that town. The cut of the house as 
here produced, was made from a drawing executed by II. 
D. Hickok, in March of the present year, and therefore 
illustrates the place of to-day, though there have been no 
material alterations made m the building since its first 
erection. 

The family consisted of six children, four boys and 
two girls, whose names and ages are as follows : O. C. 
Hickok, was bora in New York in 1830 : he is now a resi- 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 23 

dent of California, and is the trainer and part owner of 
St. Julian, the greatest horse, perhaps, now on the turf. 
Lorenzo B. was born, also in New York, in 1832 ; Horace 
D. is a native of Putnam county, Illinois, having been 
born there in 1834 ; James B., Celinda D., and Lydia M. 
were born at the old homestead near Troy Grove. 
Celinda, born in 1839, married a gentleman by the name 
of Dewey, and is still living in La Salle county, while 
Lydia, being two years younger, married a farmer named 
Barnes and is living in Decatur county, Kansas. Lorenzo 
and Horace are still living on the old homestead. The 
father died in 1852, and the mother in 1878 after reach- 
ing the venerable age of seventy-four years. All the 
children are living with the exception of James (Wild 
Bill ) whose marvelous career and tragic death will be 
found fully recorded in the subsequent pages, constitut- 
ing a leaf in history a parallel to Avhich can be found 
neither in the annals of fact nor romance. 

James, it is said, was peculiar in his ways even in child- 
hood. His earliest desire was for fire-arms, and by bar- 
tering a number of childish trinkets, at the age of eight 
years he became possessed of the greatest treasure his 
youthful fancy had ever pictured — a little single-barreled 
pistol. In his eyes this weapon, though a flint-lock and 
of imperfect make, represented the sum total of earthly 
wealth ; he would not have exchanged it for all the gold 
of the richest Peruvian Inca, and if staked against his 
soul there is no doubt but that he would have taken great 
risk of losing that before parting with his almost price- 
less treasure. By dint of cunning exchange and bar- 
ter the youthful sportsman procured powder, and when 
lead was difficult to obtain he used pebbles, and thus 
accoutered all his leisure hours were spent in marksman- 
ship, in which, despite the primitive character of his " out- 



24 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

fit," he occasionally killed a cat, wounded a pig, winged 
a chicken, or stung a coyote. These foibles sometimes 
brought a prominent admonition of Solomon into active 
operation, at great expense to his youthful posterior ; but 
if these corrections made the embryo hunter's sitting posi- 
tion difficult they apprised him, at the same time, of the 
more comfortable employment of walking, and this was 
sure to lead him again into the commission of other acts 
equally indefensible in the eyes of his parents. 

At about the age of fourteen James secured an excel- 
lent pistol and shortly afterward, by the assistance of his 
father, he purchased a rifle, and thus armed he remained 
in the woods almost constantly. At this period the few 
settlers were greatly annoyed by the ravages of wolves, 
so much in fact that the State offered premiums for the 
scalps of these destructive animals. This furnished a 
remunerative occupation for James who, every evening, 
returned home with a belt full of bloody prizes which 
brought him no small revenue at the end of every month 
when the scalps were carried to the county clerk, as the 
law provided. 

His opportunities for schooling were entirely consistent 
with his other advantages ; country schools had occa- 
sional sessions in his district, but a regular attendance 
was prevented, both by the great distance of the school- 
house and the irregularity, or rather infrequcncy, of the 
sessions. However, he managed to acquire a rudimental 
education. At the age of fifteen chance threw in his way 
a copy of Peters' " Life of Kit Carson," and " The Trap- 
per's Guide," two books which he read with the greatest 
interest. The former made such an impression upon him 
that he declared to his brothers that he would " one day 
beat anything Kit ('arson ever did or attempted." 

Two years after familiarizing himself with Carson's ex- 



.LIFE OF WILD BILL. 25 

ploits, James obtained employment as a tow-path driver 
for the Illinois and Michigan canal. Soon after engaging 
in this occupation he had a difficulty with a driver named 
Charles Hudson, which resulted in a fistic contest lasting 
more than an hour. The two began the fight on the tow 
path, but gradually rolling towards the canal they both 
finally tumbled into the water, and then it changed from 
blows into an effort each to drown the other. Hudson 
was a large man, whose physical abilities were far super- 
ior to James', but the latter' s cat-like agility fully com 
pensated for his deficiency in strength ; in addition to a 
remarkable activity his endurance was another point of 
superior excellence, and through these he at length 
gained such a decided victory that Hudson was taken out 
of the canal in a lifeless condition, but by dexterous, 
manipulation he was resuscitated. This ended James* 
canal experience, and he returned home. 

Thus passed the youth of AVild Bill, but who can tell 
his longing for wider fields of adventure, his craving for 
escapades in which danger becomes the source of pleas- 
ure ? When he reached the period of responsible man- 
hood, eighteen }^ears, though the avenues of communica- 
tion were few and narrow, yet there was brought to his 
ears stories of the incipient struggles between Missouri 
and Kansas. As the strife grew fiercer in aspect James 
decided to seek the arena of conflict ; he may have 
grasped the ideas which actuated the Kansas settlers in 
repelling all efforts to make their State a territory privi- 
leging slavery, but the elements of his nature rather in- 
cite a belief that he was moved alone by the knowledge 
that Kansas soil was vegetating bloody broils, and that 
the great need of that section was heroes. 

In the spring of 1855 our thirsting adventurer, collect- 
ing together what money he could command, bade adieu 



25 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

to his old home, which nestled tamely in the wilderness 
of prairies, and set out on foot for St. Louis, which city 
he reached after many days of painful traveling. The 
world was almost as strange to him as one of the planets, 
for his intercourse had been confined to such a limited 
stretch of changeless country, that beyond the village 
store his vision had never wandered over the scenes 
of business life. St. Louis was to him a painted pano- 
rama, as mysterious as the labyrinths of the pyra- 
mids ; the steamboats were novelties like the palaces of 
necromancers, and this new iife to him had such a strange 
aspect that it was very like a second birth. The river 
business was, at that time, very large, and the Missouri 
was crowded Avith steamers plying. between St. Louis and 
Omaha. After much deliberation James engaged pas- 
sage on the steamer Imperial for Leavenworth, a small 
acquaintance with city life having infused a new longing 
for adventure and stimulated him for greater concerns. 
After a tedious voyage the boat reached Leavenworth, but 
at the landing met with a reception least expected. Ex- 
citement had seized upon everyone and the determination 
of the people seemed to be the disorganization of society 
and the formation of a universal mob. 

James, an unsophisticated country lad, but withal pos- 
sessed of a mother acuteness which led him to carefully con- 
sider the best means for his own security, carefully noted 
the excited throng which, without the least show of reason, 
except exaggerated suspicion, forbade any of the passengers 
coming on shore. The town of Leavenworth being his des- 
tination, however, James determined to leave the boat, and 
to do this he resorted to a cunning expedient. Tying a 
large bandana kerchief about his neck, with his pants 
stuffed carelessly into his boot-legs, and being a deck pas- 
senger, he readily assumed the labor of a roustabout and 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



27 



began to carry off freight. While in this occupation he 
had no difficulty in slipping away through the crowd and 
gaining the center of the town, where he at once cast 
iibout for means of employment. 




Disembarking in a Kansas Mob. 



28 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Jim Lane, who had recently come from Indiana with a 
body of two hundred men, was then the recognized leader 
of what was known as the " Red Legs," or anti-slavery 
forces in Kansas, and at this time had his headquarters 
in Leavenworth- His band consisted of a little more 
than three hundred men, armed with such weapons as 
their individual means afforded. James gravitated natu- 
rally towards Lane, and within a week after his arrival 
in Leavenworth he had joined his fortunes with those 
who were under that leader's generalship. A few days 
after his enlistment the regiment was called out on the 
commons west of town for drill and rifle practice. The 
range was one hundred yards, and the guns used were 
common squirrel rifles. In the contest of marksmanship 
James easily beat every other man in the command, and 
indeed made such excellent scores that Lane personally com- 
plimented his accuracy in the most flattering words. While 
this little ceremony was being conducted, a crow chanced 
to fly overhead, and, greatly elated at the distinction be- 
ing shown him, James drew a pistol from his pocket and 
shot the bird, then carelessly replaced his weapon with- 
out remark as to the excellence of the shot. The crowd 
of men, however, set up a wild cheering, and for several 
minutes the confusion was so great that Lane could not 
make himself heard. When the noise had somewhat 
abated he renewed his flattering compliments, and putting 
a hand on James' shoulder, he said to his band: "This 
man, my newest recruit, will one day excite the wonder 
and admiration of America, and I shall watch his course 
with the greatest interest and solicitude." After this 
little incident the regiment gave James the title of 
" Shanghai Bill," a name which clung to him until after 
his great fight at Rock Creek, nearly five years after- 
wards. I can readily conceive the origin of the appella- 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 29 

tion of " Shanghai," because James was, at this time, no 
less than six feet in height and uncommonly slim, though 
very lithe and willowy, but how he came to be called 
"Bill," instead of "Jim," I have been unable to discover. 
His most intimate acquaintances are at a loss for the rea- 
son, and his diary makes no mention of anything except 
the time and circumstances under which the " title" was 
bestowed. 

"Bill," as I shall hereafter very properly call him, 
served with Lane for nearly two years, through the most 
trying days when Kansas was building a wall on her east- 
ern border out of the blood and bodies of her noblest 
sons, to keep out Slavery. He fought only as a brave 
and excellent soldier, always recognized by Lane as the 
most effective man in the command. In the early part 
of 1857 Bill entered a claim of one hundred and sixty 
acres of the finest land in Monticello township, Johnson 
county, Kansas, and though he was not yet of age, his 
reputation was such that almost immediately after set- 
tling in that section he was elected constable. 

But he was not permitted to live in peace m his new 
home. The "Border Ruffians" of Missouri, who had 
suffered defeat, held a special grudge against Bill and in 
their predatory incursions on Kansas soil they \isited 
Monticello township and during the absence of their enemy 
they burned his cabin. Being unable to revenge this out- 
rage because of the secret identity of the men who did it, 
Bill went to work again and soon had another comfortable 
house erected on his premises. His duties as constable 
called him from home so frequently, however, that the 
marauders had no difficulty in a second time applying the 
torch and laying the new house in ashes. 

The insecurity of his possessions admonished Bill that 
his labors would never avail him, as a farmer in Johnson 



80 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

county, and before the year expired he abandoned his 
claim and accepted a position as driver for the Overland 
Stage Company. In this capacity he crossed the plains 
several times, driving from St. Joseph, Denver, and 
points in Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska, to Santa Fe, 
New Mexico, and Salt Lake City. As a driver he was 
apparently reckless and yet no man ever got through his 
route so frequently with as few accidents. Coming into 
his destination Bill usually treated his passengers to "a 
shaking up," as he called it, " in order to jolt the cricks 
out of their joints." The last stretch of road entering 
Santa Fe was a slight decline and over this Bill almost in- 
variably turned the horses loose and gave them the lash . 
The bis; Concord coach would bound along like a wounded 
monster, lurching the passengers from side to side, dish- 
ing up dyspeptics, phlegmatics and rollicking dispositions 
indiscriminately, and bowling into the town finally the 
centre of a dust bank and the object of excited interest 
to everyone in the ancient Mexican city. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Overland Stage Company, like the great freight- 
ers, Majors, Russell & Waddell, had its routes over tho 
entire West. It was a very easy matter at that time, and 
in that peculiar civilization, for a man, so disposed, to 
make a record. In fact, it was more difficult for him 
not to make one, for he was soon put down as either an 
arrant coward or a man of nerve. Every station was 
located by a saloon and every stage employe wan practi- 
cally an animated skin-full of fighting whisky. Desper- 
ate rows were as common as wax-weed flowers on the 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



31 




32 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

prairie in spring-time, and the man who had failed to 
snuff out a life was like a bashful fellow at a country 
dance — wofully out of place. But Shanghai Bill's record 
was recognized in the bud, for his physical ability had 
been demonstrated in many social encounters, and while 
he had gone through the ordeal of more than a score of 
fights his master had not yet been found. Being also 
acknowledged as the best shot on the plains and fortified 
with a wonderful self-possession under trying circum- 
stances, full of cunning, strategy and pluck, he was 
alreadj r a hero hy general consent of all who knew him. 
In the fall of 18-38 the Indians broke out of their res- 
ervation on the Sweetwater and began their depredations 
to the serious injury of the stage company. Several set- 
tlers had been massacred, two pony express riders killed, 
and, being emboldened by their success, they at length 
attacked a stage coach near the three crossings on Sweet- 
water creek. In this encounter the driver and three 
passengers were killed and the assistant division agent 
escaped with a serious wound. In addition to this out- 
rage the Indians stole a large number of horses belonging 
to the stage company and rendered its business so ex- 
tremely hazardous that for nearly two months the express 
and stage were suspended on that division. The com- 
pany, being thus enjoined from operations, and appreci- 
ating the necessity of some decisive action, Bent for Bill, 
lie promptly responded and meeting the officers at St. 
.Joseph they went into council to consider the best means 
of proceeding against the Indians. Dill was the first to 
offer a proposition looking to a solution of the troubles. 
Said he : " You have got enough men here, if they are 
turned loose right, to clean out all the Red Devils along 
the route, and all the men now idle would consider it a 
frolic to go into the Indian service for a short time." 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 33 

He was requested to perfect his plans and given full 
authority to conduct the proposed operations according 
to his own wishes. Bill at once had the men called to- 
gether and in his own pithy phrases related to them what 
was wanted ; a hearty disposition to engage in the expe- 
dition was manifested by every one, and on the following 
day preparations were made to leave. About fifty men 
enlisted, all of whom were well provided with the best of 
arms and good horses ; before starting they unanimously 
chose Bill as their leader, promising implicit obedience 
to his orders. 

The well equipped and organized body set out on the 
29th day of September, pointing directly for the Powder 
River. When they reached that stream, along which 
they expected to find the Indians encamped, they saw 
nothing but an indistinct trail leading westwardly. This 
the company followed for three days, finding it growing 
constantly fresher, when suddenly they found, upon 
reaching Crazy Woman's Fork — a small stream usually 
dry during summer and frozen solid in winter — that the 
Indians whom they were so successfully trailing, had 
been joined by another party in war paint numbering not 
less than one hundred. Here was a dilemma which 
caused several in the command to falter, for it was now 
evident that the whole band of Indians comprised fully 
two hundred, and to meet with such an overwhelming 
force seemed like charging the guns at Balaklava. But 
Bill gave his men no opportunity to talk about the in- 
creasing danger of the expedition, for he proposed to 
shoot the first man who attempted to return. This bold 
threat may not have been needed, for though there Avcre 
some expressions concerning the judiciousness of follow- 
ing so large a band of Indians, yet every one under Bill 
was full, up to the chin, with dare-devil courage, and 



34 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

they could be depended on to fight a ten-acre field full of 
grizzly bears with only a tooth-pick for a weapon if they 
were only put to it. 

Finding the trail decidedly fresh, the party, with Bill 
always in the lead, proceeded with due circumspection, 
gaining the high knolls cautiously, and sweeping the land- 
scape to discover if the enemy were in view. At Clear 
Creek the crossing was apparently made but two or three 
hours before, and almost immediately after this discov- 
ery, the day being well advanced, Bill commanded a halt, 
and pointing directly north, he said : " Do you see that 
little blue vapor hanging on the tree tops ? Well , that 
means an Indian camp. You boys just stop right here 
and I '11 locate the game." So saying he left the trail 
and rode like he was making to the windward of a herd 
of buffaloes, taking a broad circuit in order to reach some 
high ground from which he could discover the exact 
strength of the Indians, how their camp was pitched, 
where their stock was stationed and whether tethered or 
corraled. All this information was soon gathered by 
Bill, who returned and ordered his men to rest until dark, 
get themselves in good readiness and be prepared for a 
dashing fight after night-fall. 

The company remained in camp, without fire, until 
nearly ten o'clock, getting a good rest and permitting 
their horses to recover from the tiresome inarch. When 
Bill called his men to the saddle each one responded with 
alacrity. His instructions then were for each man to fol- 
low him into the Indian camp and to fight only with the 
pistol; to make for the stock which, being in a corral, 
would be easily stampeded and run out, so it could bo 
collected and secured. These instructions were obeyed to 
the letter; the party rode cautiously toward the camp, 
which being found unpicketed was easily approached, 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



35 



and then a dash w*as made for the corral by twelve of the 
men while the others rode into the camp and as the half 




stupefied Indians came out of their tents, not realizing what 
the confusion meant, they were shot down until the at- 
tack became a slaughter. The surprise was complete ; 



36 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

while the deadly revolvers in the hands of those who so 
well knew how to use them, did fearful execution. All 
the horses were secured except a lew scrub ponies, and 
then it was an easy matter to get off, for there was noth- 
ing left on which the Indians could make pursuit. 

The men returned with all the horses stolen from 
the stage company, together with more than a hundred 
head of those belonging to the Indians. After getting 
back to St. Joseph the brilliant results of the campaign 
superinduced a general big drunk in which all the stage 
employes participated, and, though very strange to assert, 
yet none the less true, the row which followed as a mat- 
ter of course, resulted in the killing of only one man, a 
stage driver, by Alf. Slade, one of the company bosses. 

Severing his connectin with the Overland Stage Co., 
in 1859, Bill engaged with the great freighters, Majors 
& Russels, to drive between Independence, Mo., and 
Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was while thus employed that 
he met witli a unique adventure which cost him very 
dearly but (aught him a very useful lesson. Matt Farley 
was his companion on one occasion during this long over- 
land trip, and but for him the name of Wild Bill would 
never have been heard. While passing through the 
Soccoro range with his team two miles ahead of Farley, 
Bill discovered a large cinnamon bear with her two cubs 
directly in the road ahead of him. The bear, instead of 
manifesting any fear at Bill's approach, but moved en- 
tirely by her maternal instincts, boldly disputed his pas- 
sage, and with further advance of the team she growled 
fiercely and showed her intention to attack him. Bill be- 
ing provided with two excellent pistols and a large bowie- 
knife gave himself no concern for the result of the en- 
counter, thinking it an easy matter to kill the bear — a 
presumption in which he was most seriously mistaken. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 37 

When the bear approached within twenty feet of him he 
fired one of his pistols, the ball striking her squarely in 
the forehead, t>ut the accurate aim instead of proving 
fatal had no other effect than to put the beast in a more 
desperate rage, for the cinnamon, like thegrizzley, has a 
brain protection so thick that the ball from an ordinary 
rifle will produce no impression on it. In fact, many 
experienced hunters claim that the cinnamon is much 
more dangerous than the grizzley, because of its greater 
activity and equal vitality. Bill at once discovered, from 
the bad result of his first shot, that he had an antagonist 
bent on a mission which might well afford serious appre- 
hensions. His first feeling of security prevented him 
from taking safety on the top of his wagon and now he 
was cut off from that means of escape. In fact he had 
no time to think of retreat after the first shot was dis- 
charged, for the bear was fairly on him in the next 
instant ; he discharged his second pistol and succeeded in 
injuring the animal's left foreleg, as he intended, but as 
he jerked his long knife the bear reared on her hind legs 
and grappled him. The struggle which now ensued was 
one of the most desperate ever known. Bill buried the 
knife rapidly in various parts of the bear's body and cut 
her throat, but while doing this his shoulder was torn 
dreadfully, his left arm crushed from the elbow, his 
breast furrowed by the long, poniard-like claws, and his 
left cheek was split open. But he never regarded his 
terrible wounds, standing up in the agonizing embrace of 
the infuriated animal until the ground on which they 
fought was saturated with blood. Bill finally slipped 
and fell, the bear falling squarely on top of him and 
holding his left arm in her mouth. This fall, was, how- 
ever, a most fortunate circumstance, for the position was 
easily reversed and Bill could use his knife with greater 



38 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

effect; while, in a standing position, although injured in 
one of her forelegs, yet the bear could with this member 
seriously interfere with the execution of Bill's single 
free hand. Before the fight was concluded he had 
literally disembowled the dangerous animal and her feet 
became so tangled in her intestines that she thus assisted 
in her own quick destruction. 

The combat lasted nearly half an hour and at its close 
it was difficult to decide which presented the more horri- 
fying spectacle, Bill or his dead antagonist ; they were 
both saturated with blood and their flesh was in shreds 
in several places. However, Bill survived, but when his 
companion, Farley, came up he was barely able to point 
to the dead bear and his own desperate, lacerations. Bill 
was hauled to Santa Fe and there placed under the charge 
of Dr. Sam Jones, an excellent frontier surgeon, who, by 
good attention, was able to so far restore his patient in 
two months' time as to permit Bill's return to Indepen- 
dence. But it was not until several months after his dis- 
charge from the surgeon's care that Bill was able to re- 
sumo work again, and the scars from the wGunds iv 
ceived in that encounter he bore to his grave. 

In the latter part of 18(>0, Bill left the employment 01 
Majors & Kusscl to accept a position tendered him by the 
Overland Stage Co. as watchman and hostler at Rock 
Creek Station, a point on the Old Platte route fifty miles 
west of Topcka. The stage company, which ran its 
hes between St. Joseph, Mo., and Denver, had estab- 
lished Rock Creek as a relay post and had built stables 
for the accommodation of about twenty-five horses, which 
number was almost always found there. Bill had a com- 
panion with him known as Doc. Mills, asmall Irishman, who 
did the cooking and assisted in the care of the horses, in 
fact performing a greater part of the menial duties, as 




WILD BILL AND THT Ci^lAMOW BEAR 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 41 

Bill was employed, chiefly, to guard the stock, owing to 
the depredations of horsethieves who were very numerous 
in that section. The two occupied a small log hut, hav- 
ing but one room, which was divided, however, by the 
suspension of an old horse-blanket, back of which was 
their bed. The roof of the hut was thatched, and being 
built on the side of a steep hill it was easy to walk from 
the hill directly on to the roof. It was what is univer- 
sally called in the far West a "dug-out," there being 
but one entrance, in the front, and not a single window. 
To the right of the " dug-out" were the stables, built of 
heavy logs and so secure that when the big puncheon 
doors were locked it would require the services of a pro- 
fessional safe-cracker to effect a violent entrance. It 
was here that Bill and his chum spent the autumn days, 
in the very heart of the dreariest solitude between Mis- 
souri and the Eocky Mountains. But even away up in 
this wild place the news of an approaching struggle be- 
tween the North and South had penetrated and as the 
daily coach rolled up before the cabin door Bill always 
anxiously inquired for papers and information. 

In the same neighborhood, not more than thirteen miles 
west of Rock Creek, there was a rendezvous known as 
the McCandlas ranche. It was located in a barely access- 
ible spot, and well known to Bill as a corral for stolen 
horses. The two McCandlas boys, Jack and Jim, had 
long been a terror to the central part of Kansas ; had 
killed more innocent men and stolen a greater number of 
fine horses than any other two thieving cut-throats that 
ever figured in the annals of Western outlawry. They 
had enlisted about one dozen of equally desperate horse- 
thieves, and this band laid enforced tribute upon every 
farmer in that section, and when horsestealing grew dull 
or unprofitable the McCandlases turned their talents— 



42 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

which were decidedly versatile — to highway robbery, oc- 
casionally stopping a stage, or murdering a party of trav- 
elers. They had so overrun the country and asserted 
their power that no attempt was ever made to arrest 
them, the officers of the several adjoining counties fairly 
standing in awe of the McCandlas name. 

Kansas, although one of the strongest Union States, 
nevertheless furnished some recruits for the Confederate 
service, and among the active sympathizers with the South, 
in the central part of the State, the McCandlas gang was 
particularly prominent. By what authority he acted was 
never discovered ; perhaps it was by none, and that his 
assumed authority was but a pretext for bolder robbery ; 
but it is certain that Jack McCandlas asserted his special 
employment to collect horses, and enlist recruits for the 
Confederate service. 

About five miles from Rock Creek station, toward the 
head of the branch, lived an old man named Shapley, a 
good old soul who, with his aged wife, was known for 
kindness of heart and a wholesome sympathy. As occa- 
sion sometimes offered he would preach at points in the 
neighborhood when as many as a dozen persons could be 
collected together, a circumstance which the sparse set- 
tlement very seldom afforded. This occasional occupa- 
tion gained for hkn the titular honor of parson, so that 
he was always called Parson Shapley by those who knew 
him. Notwithstanding his grey hairs and naturally 
peaceful disposition, when the threats of rebellion struck 
his ears, the parson was not slow to show the blood, at 
least, of his fighting ancestors. He was a pronounced 
Union man and like a true Westerner spit out his mind 
without regard for results, and by an unconcealed patri- 
otism rendered himself specially obnoxious to the Mc- 
Candlas thieves. On the 16th day of December, 1870, 



LITE OF WILD BILL. 43 

Wild Bill, whose title of "Wild" was so soon to be 
gained, saw coming down the stage road a party of four 
horsemen headed by Jim McCandlas, who was leading 
the venerable old parson by a lariet fastened about his 
neck. The sight aroused Bill's sympathy, but while he 
was well disposed to assist the aged man yet discretion 
admonished him of the f ruitlessness of such an undertak- 
ing under existing circumstances. When the party came 
abreast of the ' ' dug-out," McCandlas in a most audacious 
and authoritative manner spoke to Bill as follows : 

" Look a here, I mean business ; I am a gatherin' up 
horses for the Secesh service and I want yer to jist git 
them thar horses in yer stable ready for me when I come 
back here, which will be about three or four o'clock this 
arternoon. This old hypocritical devil I've got here 
has been a havin' of his say a little too free around here 
and I concluded to take him alono- and show him the 
needsessity of keepin' his mouth shet." 

In addition to this burst of mandatory language Mc- 
Candlas endeavored to persuade Bill to join him and 
enter the Confederate service, but the reply was one of 
those fearless expressions which Bill knew so well how 
to give. Said he : 

' ' You go to h — 1 ! when you want these horses come 
and take them, and if you want me, you'll have no diffi- 
culty in finding me here." Bill then withdrew into the 
dug-out, while McCandlas and his men rode on toward 
their rendezvous. 

Now it happened that Doc. Mills had left the cabin 
only a short time before, and gone down the creek some 
distance, taking a shot-gun with him to kill quails or other 
game he might find, to provision the place with meat. 
Thus Bill was left alone, with no one even to consult re-^ 
garding the most desirable method of defense. In the 
3 



44 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

cabin there were several weapons, however, consisting of 
a Mississippi Yager — a rifle of very large bore — two re- 
volvers and two bowie-knives. Finding these in good 
condition Bill determined to give the party, on their re- 
turn, an interesting reception and trust to luck for the 
outcome. The stables were securely closed and the dug- 
out put in a state of defense. 

Directly after three o'clock in the afternoon, true to 
their promise, the McCandlas boys, with eight of their 
desperate followers were seen approaching in a smart trot. 
As they came up to the stables, finding the doors 
locked, they called to Bill to "come out of his shell " 
and deliver the horses, accompanying the command with 
a threat that if he refused there would be a small murder 
at Rock Creek and the stage company would have to en- 
gage another watchman . 

Bill shouted back to his beleaguers that he would shoot 
the first man who attempted to open a stable door, and 
if there were any murdering done at Rock Creek there 
might also be more than one victim to bury. 

The ten villains were really elated with this reply, be- 
cause they had a spite which found in this answer suf- 
ficient pretext for satisfying ; in short, they wanted to 
kill somebody in addition to increasing their horse corral, 
and Bill, single handed, would make such an easy and 
choice victim ! Leaving their horses, which they first 
methodically tied to swinging limbs, Jack McCandlas 
ordered his men to bring forward a log, which lay near 
the premises, and with this they began battering the 
door of the dug-out, which succumbed after a few heavy 
thrusts had been delivered. Bill stood partly behind the 
old blanket, with the Yager in hand and his other 
weapons lying on a rude table beside him, convenient to 
his grasp. When the door splintered and fell in Jim 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 47 

McCandlas with a large revolver in one hand and a bowie- 
knife in the other, with a yell leaped across the thresh- 
hold, pressed by the others behind him. But the volun- 
tary leap ended in an involuntary spring into enternity, 
for Bill received him with a discharge from the heavy 
rifle, sending an ounce ball directly through the despera- 
do's heart. Jim never struggled after he fell, only 
drawing up his legs slightly, as if to give more room for 
the entrance of his comrades. Scarcely was the blaze 
from the rifle extinguished before Bill had seized his 
pistols and killed three more of his assailants before any 
of them reached him. The combat now became truly 
furious, for the six remaining cut-throats had gained the 
rear of the cabin and grappled with Bill who continued 
pouring shots from a pistol while he began cutting right 
and left with his bowie. The gang were equally active, 
discharging bullets into Bill's body, but owing to their 
number they fought to great disadvantage. One of 
the desperadoes struck Bill over the head and knocked 
him backward across the table, and immediately Jack 
McCandlas leaped on the prostrate and badly wounded 
man, and with knife uplifted was in the very act of 
sheathing the keen blade in the heart of his victim, but 
ere the thrust was accomplished Bill shoved his pistol 
into McCandlas' breast and fired. The knife descended 
with great force, but the aim was deflected so that it 
struck in the table. McCandlas trembled for a moment 
with the chill of death that shot through his body, and 
with fierce but glazing eyes he dropped dead upon the 
floor. The bowie in Bill's hands now did desperate 
work, plunging from one heart into another, and draw- 
ing great fountains of blood winch spurted about until 
the floor was fairly flooded ; but his own life current 
assisted largely to swell the bright red streams, for his 



48 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

body was punctured by bullet holes and knife thrusts, 
but the recesses of his life had not been touched and his 
strong arm continued to do its deadly work. Six of the 
men who came to make of Bill an easy victim now lay 
dead upon the floor, while two were desperately wounded 
and only two remained unharmed. Finding in their foo 
such wonderful vitality and precision of deadly aim with 
pistol and knife the four beat a retreat, rushing out of 
the cabin pursued closely by Bill. The two uninjured 
gained their horses and fled precipitately while another 
ran down the hill carrying such desperate wounds that he 
was unable to mount. The other could barely reach the 
foot of a large tree fifty yards from the cabin and there 
he was shot to death by Bill with the gun wrested from 
Doc. Mills, who came upon the scene at this moment. 
The wounded man who escaped by running down the 
hill (Bill being unable to pursue him because of his own 
desperate wounds,) managed by some means to reach 
the town of Manhattan, several miles distant, where he 
died soon after from his terrible injuries. 

After the fight was ended Bill, who had kept his feet 
only under the stimulant of excessive excitement, at once 
relapsed into an unconscious condition and was carried 
into the dug-out by his partner, and laid on the bed, 
which was saturated with blood. In about one hour 
afterward the western stage rolled up, containing six pas- 
sengers, among whom was Capt. E. W. Kingsbury, who 
is now a resident of Kansas City, holding the position of 
Chief of U. S. Storekeepers for the Western District of 
Missouri, who afterward became one of Bill's most 
intimate friends. The sight which presented itself to the 
gaze of the stage passengers, all of whom entered the 
cabin to view the havoc which one man had wrought, was 
most distressing to ordinary sensibilities. There lay, in 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 49 

hideous death, six repulsive featured men, full of gaping 
wounds. 

Bill remained in a semi-conscious state for some time, 
until one of the passengers, who chanced to be something 
of a surgeon, resuscitated him by means of brandy and 
cold water applications ; and after a while he regained suf- 
ficient strength to give some of the particulars of the des- 
perate fight. While telling, in broken sentences, how he 
had been forced into a defense of the place, he used this 
expression: "When six of the crowd piled on me and 
one struck me with his gun, I thought my day had come, 
so I just got wild and slashed about, like a bear with a 
death-wound, and I guess that is how I came to get away 
with them." From that moment he was given the name 
of "Wild Bill," which afterward so effectually super- 
ceded his real name, as well also as that of " Shanghai 
Bill," that he went to his grave with that appellation and 
left all his deeds to history under that most appropriate 
nom de guerre. 

A careful examination of his wounds disclosed the fol- 
lowing, nearly any one of which it would appear was 
quite enough to kill an ordinary man : A fracture of the 
skull — the frontal bone ; three terrible gashes in the 
breast ; his left forearm cut through to the bone ; four 
bullets in his body, one in his left hip and two through 
the fleshy part of his right leg ; his right cheek cut open, 
and the skin of his forehead cut so deeply that a large 
portion of the scalp dropped down so far over his eyes as 
to almost blind him. A surgeon was sent for, who came 
directly from Manhattan, about seven miles distant, and 
old Mrs. Watkins, a five-mile distant neighbor, hearing 
of the encounter, came down to the cabin directly and 
volunteered to nurse the wounded hero through his dan- 
gerous extremity. For one month afterward kis im- 



50 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

provement was almost imperceptible, but after that time 
his condition took a more favorable turn and his wounds 
healed so rapidly that in June following he was able to 
walk about, and was removed to Denver, and in less than 
one year after the fight his recovery was complete. The 
stage company paid all of his expenses during the period 
of his confinement, but never otherwise recognized his 
faithfulness in defending their property. 

This combat, of one man fairly whipping ten acknowl- 
edged desperadoes, has no parallel, I make bold to say, 
in any authentic history. The fight has been described 
more than a hundred times in newspapers and periodicals, 
and was illustrated in Harper's Magazine, but all accounts 
heretofore have been marred by much fiction and gross 
inaccuracies. The particulars as here recorded are un- 
questionably correct, for they were obtained from Capt. 
Kingsbury, who heard Bill's first recital of the facts right 
on the battle-ground ; Jolly, the man who escaped but 
died a few days afterward at Manhattan, corroborated 
Bill's statement of the facts, and Dr. Joshua Thorne, one 
of the most prominent physicians in Kansas City, who 
attended upon and was one of Bill's confidantes, repeated 
to me the same story as he himself had heard his pa- 
tient relate it. These direct and most reliable sources, 
each affirming the same facts, leave no room for doubting 
the correctness of this account. 



CHAPTER m. 



Leaving Denver, Wild Bill went directly to Leaven- 
worth, and his nam« being in nearly every person's mouth 
as the greatest fighter that had ever made a record, owing 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 51 

to his annihilation of the McCandlas gang, Gen. John 
C. Fremont, in command at Fort Leavenworth, sent for 
him immediately upon hearing of his arrival, and offered 
him the position of Brigade Wagon Master. At this time 
the great civil war had overshadowed everything else, 
and the adjoining borders of Missouri and Kansas had 
become the theater of a truly direful conflict. Men of 
nerve and cunning were in great demand, for murder, 
under the color of justifiable war, was beginning to point 
its shivering finger at every highway where the blood of 
men had quenched the thirst of the earth. Bill accepted 
the position, though not under enlistment, and directly 
thereafter he was ordered to conduct a provision train 
from the Fort to Sedalia, Missouri. On the third day 
after their departure, a few miles inside the Missouri 
line, the train was suddenly attacked by a company of 
Confederates under Capt. Blunt, who, owing to the al- 
most unexampled cowardice of the men under Bill — 
though numbering scarcely more than one dozen — cap- 
tured the outfit without meeting any resistance. How- 
ever, while the Confederates easily made prisoners of his 
men, Bill refused to surrender, and single-handed opened 
fire. Being well mounted, he turned his horse toward 
Kansas City, followed by fifty of the enemy. The chase 
continued for several miles, with a rapid exchange of 
shots, in which flying encounter Bill killed four of his 
pursuers and escaped himself without injury. Col. Jen- 
nison had a considerable force under him at Kansas City, 
and Bill, reporting the circumstances of the capture of 
his train, two companies were hastily mounted and sent 
out to recover the property. Bill accompanied the sol- 
diers, and by fast riding the Confederates were struck 
within fifteen miles of the place where the first attack 
was made. A charge was at once ordered, at the head 



52 HEROES OF THE PLAIAS. 

of which rode Wild Bill, who, considering the fact of his 
new commission, felt that he had been dishonored by the 
loss of his first charge. The fight was a short and de' 
cisive one, for the Confederates, being taken by surprise, 
in return, speedily scattered and thus let their new acqui- 
sition again fall into the possession of the Union troops. 
Bill was very much elated over the result, and in triumph 
conducted the train into Sedalia and immediately after- 
ward offered his services to Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, who 
was acting under orders of Gen. Hallcck, and who con- 
tinued him in the position to which Gen. Fremont had 
appointed him, until the spring of 1863. 

During his engagement as wagon master, conveying 
supplies for Curtis' army, which was operating against 
the Confederate forces under Gens. VanDorn, Price and 
McCulloch, the battle of Pea Ridge was fought (March 
6th, 7th and 8th, '62), in which Bill became a voluntary 
participant, taking the part of a sharp shooter. He ob- 
tained an eligible location on the hill overlooking Cross- 
Timber Hollow, and from behind a large log, where he 
lay concealed for nearly four hours, ho killed, by actual 
count, thirty-five of the enemy, among his victims being 
Gen. McCulloch. This dreadful execution served to 
direct the attention of a Confederate company which de- 
termined upon dislodging and killing him. The company 
charged up the hill, firing so rapidly that Bill's fortifica- 
tion was punctured by bullets like a pepper box, and but for 
the timely relief of one hundred comrades who had recog- 
nized his dangerous position and charged down from the 
apex of the hill to the rescue, he would certainly have soon 
resembled his friendly log. The two companies met not 
more than one hundred yards from the spot where "Wild 
Bill lay, and an engagement followed which was by far 
the hottest of the entire battle, for the encounter came 



LIFE OF WILD BILL, 53 

hand to hand and the ground was so bitterly disputed 
that more than one half of each company was killed. 

Soon after the battle of PeaEidge Gen. Curtis, discov- 
ering the qualifications Wild Bill possessed, and knowing 
his history as a fighter on the plains, engaged him as a 
spy, with instructions to enter Price's lines and collect 
necessary information as to the immediate and ultimate 
intentions of the Confederate general. Price had already 
laid waste a large portion of Western Missouri, besides 
recruiting his forces by the acquisition of many men and 
horses. He had been so successful in the campaign that 
the Government was seriously alarmed, especially as Mis- 
souri was never regarded as a loyal State, and it was 
gravely feared that a series of Confederate successes in- 
side her borders might serve to carry the State out of the 
Union, a proposition already seriously debated. It was 
for these reasons that Gen. Curtis had been specially em- 
ployed to operate against Price and drive him from the 
State. Immediately after Bill's employment as a spy he 
was given a fine horse and directed to use his own means 
for entering the Confederate lines. Accordingly, he as- 
sumed the name of Bill Barnes and making a wide circuit 
through Kansas and Indian Territory he entered Arkansas 
below the western center and made directly toward Lit- 
tle Rock. Arriving there he enlisted in a Confederate 
company of mounted rangers which he knew was organ- 
izing under Price's recruiting service to join the operating 
force in Southwest Missouri. 

In the latter part of September the company joined 
Price, who, a few days after, formed a junction with 
Gen. Joe Shelby on Elk River, in Newton county. Here it 
was decided to make a stand and await the coming of Curtis 
who was following swiftly after with a force slightly inferior 
to that of the combined commands of Price and Shelby. 



54 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Bill received the appointment of orderly to Gen. Price 
within a week after his enlistment, a position which offer- 
ed special opportunities for acquiring information of the 
greatest value to Curtis. On the 23d day of October the 
Union forces drove in the Confederate pickets on the 
north side of the river — or more properly creek — and at 
once the command prepared for battle. Shelby lay on 
the extreme left, while Price occupied the right, from 
which, being first in the command, he was to direct the 
engagement. "While the armies were thus lying looking 
into the face of each other, separated only by a narrow 
creek and the rapidly approaching twilight which admon- 
ished each side to postpone the fight until the morrow, 
Gen. Price placed some dispatches in Bill's hands and or- 
dered him to deliver them to Shelby at once. The posi- 
tion of the daring spy had now become critical in the ex- 
treme. From the moment Shelby had joined Price, Bill 
had been very anxious to communicate with Curtis, but 
no opportunity was offered. But now that preparations 
had been made for battle it was more than important that 
he should gain the Union lines, and he resolved to reach 
Curtis at all hazards, a determination which he accom- 
plished by having recourse to the following dangerous 
strategy. In the company that had been recently recruit- 
ed at Little Rock was a large 1 , lank Arkansas desparado 
named Jake Lawson. He was A 1 at drinking, shoot- 
ing, cutting and bloviating. His reputation for being a 
"rough customer" had caused him to be chosen ser- 
geant of the company, and the maimer of his boasting 
led all his comrades to expect something brilliantly dar- 
ing from him during the campaign. Taking the dis- 
patches from Gen. Price, Wild Bill, with a courteous 
sweep of his hand, mounted his horse and rode directly 
toward the left of the lines, but when he reached the 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 55 

center, out of Price's sight, he halted before his company 
and called forLawson. When the big bully came out of 
his tent Bill, in a loud voice, so that all his comrades 
might hear the dialogue, addressed him as follows : 

" See here, Jake, let's have a little fun ; these fellows 
have never been under fire, so suppose we give 'em a 
sample of our pluck so as to encourage them for to- 
morrow." 

"Well," responded Lawson, "what do you want to 
do ? Do you want to fight me with pistols at three paces, 
or do you prefer the bowie with the two ends of a hand- 
kerchief held in our teeth over the back of a chair? " 

" Oh, no," said Bill, "nothing so bad as that, but 
I'll make you take water on a less dangerous experiment. 
I'll wager my horse against yours that I can ride closer to 
the enemy's line than you can." 

Lawson looked at Bill a moment, and then tossing his 
head, as an evidence of disgust, walked again into his 
tent, when a laugh from those near the two caused him 
to stop. 

"What's the matter with your nerve?" asked Bill. 
" You ain't afraid, are you, Jake? " 

" No, I aint afeerd," responded Lawson, " but what's 
the use trying such infernal nonsense ? ' ' 

" None at all," replied Bill, " if you haven't got the 
sand to accept the challenge. I only wanted to see the 
real color of your character." 

At this the boys began to laugh again, and several were 
bold enough to remark that it did look very much as 
though Jake Lawson was a bogus desperado. 

Being pressed and taunted Jake at length agreed to put 
bis mettle as well as his horse against that of Bill's, and 
the two mounting rode out, followed anxiously by the 
eyes of the entire company, until they came to an open 



56 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



space directly in view of the Union forces. " Now, come 
on," cried Bill, who, putting spurs to his horse, dashed 
down toward the creek with Lawson abreast, but about 
two rods west of him. The Union pickets seeing the 
riders coming toward them, began firing, which brought 
into line the forces of both armies. Upon reaching the 
bank of the stream Bill, being in great danger himself 




A Close Shave. 



from the bullets of his friends, cried out: " Hold your 
fire, I'm Wild Bill, trying to get into the lines." This 
remark, while it revealed him to his friends, also ex- 
posed his purpose to Lawson and the Confederates. See- 
ing now that he had been caught in a cunning trap the 
big sergeant attempted to draw his pistol, but Bill's eyes 
were upon him and the next inetitnt he had sent a ball 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 57 

crashing through his brain, and as he fell his horse, gal- 
loping on, was caught by Bill who spurred his own horse 
into the stream leading by the bridle that of the dead 
sergeant. By the time Bill had reached the middle of 
the creek, making necessarily slow progress, the Confed- 
erates poured down to the bank and more than fifty rifles 
were turned loose at the fugitive. The bullets were fall- 
ing about his head like mosquitoes swarming over fresh 
prey, splashing the water in his face and singing their 
enquiring impromptus fairly in his ears. Truly, it was a 
position almost as hot as that which tradition tells us the 
Hebrew trio occupied on a memorable occasion, but with- 
out the protection of a sacred guardianship Bill passed 
through that fire of leaden hail without receiving the least 
injury. As he emerged on the opposite side of the 
stream, with the two horses, a great cheer of congratula- 
tion went up from Curtis' men, and then a brisk engage- 
ment followed between the two opposing forces across 
the creek. With great respect Wild Bill placed in Gen. 
Curtis' hands the dispatches entrusted to him by Gen. 
Price for transmission to Shelby, and imparted such other 
information as fully advised Curtis of the strength and 
intentions of the Confederates. The battle which was 
expected to take place on the following day was avoided 
by the Confederates who, breaking camp that night, 
pushed onward into Arkansas. 

Remaining with Curtis a few days, who continued the 
chase after the Confederates, Wild Bill was requested to 
again enter the ranks of the enemy for information. 
Repairing to a tent by himself for a while he spent the 
time in changing his appearance so as to escape detection. 
His make-up now was so ingenious that it was almost im- 
possible for Gen. Curtis himself to recognize him. From 
a sleek, trim and neat figure, with perfectly fitting clothes, 



58 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

he emerged from his tent one of the most woe-be-gone 
specimens of Arkansas travelers the country afforded. 
There was that idiomatic expression, too, which disfig- 
ured his voice equally as the clothes did his body. Thus 
prepared for his dangerous mission, and accompanied by 
Natt Tuckett, an old and valuable friend, he again set 
out, going south-west, through the Indian Territory, and 
down into central Texas where, at Austin, he and Tuckett 
joined the Confederate forces under Kirby Smith. A 
few days afterward Smith struck his tents and moved up 
into Arkansas, that State having now become the theatre 
of a desperate conflict between divisions from both 
armies. Curtis had pushed Price and Shelby until the 
debated ground had become like fighting a man on his 
own hearth-stone, and instead of seeking an open or de- 
cisive engagement his movements were now directed by a 
wholesome regard for possible results. Smith reached 
the Arkansas river near Lewisburg, in Conway county, 
and while there encamped his advance scouts reported 
the approach of Curtis with a force of five thousand men 
and two pieces of light ordnance. The respective com- 
mands were about equal, though Smith was without any 
field guns. There being a ferry at Lewisburg the Con- 
federates made a crossing and pushed forward to gain an 
advantage ground and throw up breastworks so as to re- 
ceive the Federals while in line of march. But the sur- 
prise was not accomplished, as Curtis was an officer of 
great caution and being in the enemy's own country he 
kept his advance well guarded. Locating Smith, Curtis 
halted, in line of battle, on a little knoll about one thou- 
sand yards from the position occupied by the Confeder- 
ates, and bringing his two ten pound guns into action, he 
began a brisk shelling with the hope of dislodging the 
enemy and bringing on an engagement in the opening. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 59 

But Smith immediately despatched back for reinforce- 
ments and remained sullenly silent, receiving the fire of 
the Federals passively, as in fact it was wholly ineffec- 
tual. 

The position of the two armies remained unchanged for 
more than an hour, the field-pieces continuing their rapid 
discharges and the shells screaming apparently only for 
the amusement of both sides. Suddenly there were de- 
scried two horsemen leaping from the breastworks and 
making a bold and rapid dash toward the Federal lines. 
More than a minute elapsed before a shot was fired, which 
clearly indicated that the Confederates had either dis- 
patched the riders for some singular purpose, or else did 
not themselves at first comprehend the strange action. 
But surprise was terminated and curiosity satisfied by a 
rapid discharge of musketry followed by a dozen cavalry- 
men well mounted and in rapid pursuit. Now the ride 
began in earnest and a wild one it proved to be. The 
Federals at once saw that the two first riders were fugi- 
tives from the Confederate lines and a hurrah went up, 
which swelled on the air like an engagement with new 
brigades just brought into action. For the first two or 
three hundred yards a regular distance was maintained 
between the pursued and pursuers, but after this two 
from the latter party began to distance their comrades 
and gain on the deserters. Coming to a broad ditch the 
horse of one cleared it with a bound while the other rider 
went down with a mortal wound from the pistols of the 
two nearest pursuers. The next moment the single fu- 
gitive was s e een to wheel his horse and, putting out his 
arms, two whiffs of smoke ascended and the two pursuers 
fell under their horses feet and lay so still that it was un- 
necessary to inquire if their wounds were mortal. The 
fugitive then rode into the Federal lines waving his broad 



60 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

sombrero over his head but with tears coursing rapidly 
down his sun-burnt cheeks. It was Wild Bill, the spy, 
who had performed this perilous feat, starting out in 
company with his friend Tuckett who now lay dead by 
the ditch midway between the two aimies. With an es- 
cort of three men Bill rode back and recovered the body 
of his beloved comrade and then with due solemnity it 
was buried in a green spot on the hillside near the batr 
tery. 

The motive which prompted this remarkable ride can- 
not be divined. Of course Bill had important information 
to convey to Gen. Curtis, but other means might have 
been employed, more consistent with good judgment, to 
reach the Federal lines. It was, however, no less singular 
that Bill thus comported himself at all times during his 
service as a spy ; though wonderfully strategic yet he 
took chances which no other spy would have tolerated in 
a companion, for he exposed himself almost constantly to 
detection, and trusted to boldness, swiftness, and his ac- 
curacy of aim for escape ; and with these, or good luck, 
he managed to avoid the usual penalties of indiscretion. 

After getting back from his second expedit ion as a spy in 
the Confederate lines, Bill requested a short vacation, and 
returned to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he met William 
Cody who had not yet gained the well-known title of 
" Buffalo Bill." The two had met before the war and 
an intimacy had sprung up, growing out of an incident 
which occurred directly after Cody first entered the em- 
ploy of Russell, Majors & Waddcll, as camp boy in 1857. 
" Billy," as he was called, being at that time only twelve 
years of age, though brave as a young catamount, became 
the special object of aversion to one of the bull-drivers, a 
great big, blustering, overbearing desperado. Under a 
slight pretext this bully struck " Billy" one day while 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 61 

in camp, knocking him backward over a log. Wild Bill 
witnessed this unprovoked assault and, making two steps 
forward, he struck the bully a blow in the face which 
sent him sprawling ten feet away while the blood spurted 
from his nose in a torrent. It was a clean knock-down 
which took the overbearing brute with such surprise that 
he scarcely realized from whence the blow came. But he 
saw Wild Bill standing over him, and took excellent heed 
of the admonition " never to lay hands on that boy 
again." 

When Wild Bill met Cody in Leavenworth he was un- 
der engagement to take a government train to Rolla, 
Missouri, and he asked Cody to go with him, which the 
latter was glad to do. After reaching Rolla the two con- 
tinued their companionship to St. Louis, taking with 
them a fine race-horse that Bill had used in scouting ser- 
vice, intending to enter the St. Louis races which were 
advertised to take place in September. Bill and Cody 
had been saving up some money, and between them they 
counted up about $750, principally in paper money of 
State bank issue. The two went out to the race-course 
in fine spirits, confident of securing a goodly stake, be- 
cause they harbored the suspicion that their horse was 
very deceptive in his appearance and that this advantage 
they would turn to good account. Their only concern 
was in getting their bets taken, for they felt so certain 
that "Old Mountain," as the horse was called, could 
easily run away with any animal the St. Louis jockeys 
could produce that a perfectly natural anxiety was felt 
for the prime consideration — bettors. 

Bill conducted the negotiations, Cody having entrusted 
him with this part of the business, laying his last cent in 
his comrade's hands. There were no combinations or 
pool selling, the races being conducted on a regular, 



62 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

old time basis. Bill moved around among the crowd 
making offers, and his success in getting takers filled him 
with happiness, " for you know," said he to Cody, who 
believed him implicitly, " we've got a dead sure thing." 
After putting up all their money they next wagered the 
horse against $250, and having exhausted all their 
portables the race was prepared for. Cody, a spare, but 
trimly made young fellow, one of the best riders that 
ever sat on horse-back, was stripped to handle " Old 
Mountain." The race was with a little black mare 
owned by a party from Peoria, very neatly coupled, with 
all the marks of a genuine courser, and was ridden by a 
negro boy. 

The preliminaries being arranged the two horses were 
brought up before the judges and sent off inelegant style, 
no advantage. " Old Mountain," however, had not de- 
ceived the St. Louis boys so much as he had drawn the 
wool down over the eyes of his backers, and as the little 
black mare sped away, lifting up the dust so that it fairly 
hid " Old Mountain," Cody gathered the impression, dis- 
agreeable as it was, that "the dead sure thing" had 
been transferred to other parties. How he did try to 
unlimber his favorite ! and he was now as unsparing of the 
whip as he had been before the race in laying his wagers. 

When they passed under the home-stretch Bill and 
Cody looked, for all the world, like the fellow who has 
bought a gold brick, — "it was stolen you know, and 
here is a fortune for a few dollars" — but finds on in- 
spection that there has been a slight mistake — a veneer- 
ing of gold over a genuine brick of brass. 

Our two heroes were woefully "busted," and away 
out of their element, because they did not know a single 
person in St. Louis. Sony enough plight, but, like a 
clause in the Declaration of Independence, " When, in 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 63 

the course of human events, it becomes necessary to beard 
the lion in his lair, the Indian in his wigwam, or the 
wood-chuck in his hole — when you're out of meat," etc., 
our two knights of the empty pocket-book passed appro- 
priate resolutions which, being acted upon, resulted in 
Wild Bill going up to military headquarters where he en- 
gaged himself as scout. Being well known by his repu- 
tation, he was forced to put this in pawn for twenty dol- 
lars, which he turned over to his badly damaged protege. 
Cody returned to Leavenworth while Bill went directly to 
Springfield and from this point . located and again joined 
Curtis, where we find him in the adventure described in 
the following chapter. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Curtis was continuing his operations down along the 
Arkansas river in 1863, and Wild Bill having reported for 
duty Curtis again employed him to strike the Confeder- 
ate lines and especially to learn the designs of Van Dorn 
and Price, who were so quiet that Curtis suspicioned they 
were meditating plans for another invasion of Missouri. 
One of his chief concerns, and which gave rise to this con- 
clusion, was the success of Quantrell and his band of 
guerillas, who were laying waste the western counties of 
Missouri and pillaging the people of eastern Kansas. 

Taking up the burden of this third dangerous mission 
Bill rode directly across the country until he struck the 
old Santa Fe trail, which he followed three days, bring- 
ing him into the western part of Kansas ; then striking 
due south he passed through the Indian Territory and en- 



64 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

tered Texas, going thence east along the border to the 
southwestern corner of Arkansas where, after reaching 
Texarkana, he stopped a few days, representing himself 
as a Texas drover. From this point he rode eastward 
until he came to the house of an old negro near the post- 
office of Buffalo, in Ouachita county. Reaching the lit- 
tle old log cabin late in the afternoon, Bill dismounted, 
and entering into conversation with the aged darkey he 
discovered the house was occupied by only the old fellow 
and his wife. A series of questions soon convinced Bill 
that the negro was loyal at. heart and could bo depended 
on to keep a secret. 

Shortly after his arrival supper was prepared by the 
old negro woman, consisting of genuine hoe-cake and 
crisply fried bacon, and the meal being concluded Bill 
interviewed his guests regarding the condition of their 
part of the country and the location of Confederate 
forces. He was pleased to learn that while these old 
people appeared extremely ignorant yet they had been 
very anxiously observant of the Confederate and Federal 
movements, and therefore were possessed of much in- 
formation valuable to him. 

On the following morning Bill arose early and going 
out to a stable on the premises, his own horse having 
been stabled the evening previous by the old darkey, he 
discovered a jackass of ancient countenance standing in 
that reverential and resigned position which only an ass 
can assume perfectly. An idea of great consequence im- 
mediately moved Bill to return to the house, disclose a 
part of his purposes to the sable old uncle, change his 
habit of dress, and make a goodly provision for safely 
entering the Confederate lines. 

Said Bill to his colored host : " I see, uncle, you have 
a jackass in the stable, does he belong to you?" 



LIFE OF WILD HILL. 65 

"Yes, sah," responded the old man, " I'se had dat 
dare aninmle fo'de last ten yeahs ; but he's gittin' a good 
deal like his marster now, not much 'count, sah ; but I 
reckon ef he hadn't been so used up de Confeds would 
a had 'im afore dis." 

" Yes," said Bill, ' I guess that is so ; he don't look 
like a very valuable brute, but at the same time he is such 
a curious looking specimen that I've got an idea he would 
suit me for a purpose I now have in view. How would 
you like to trade your jack for my horse ? ' ' 

"Well, now, dat is a funny propersish an. foh'youto 
make, case I haint got numn' to give you to boot." 

" But I don't want any boot ; you bring out the jack 
and let my horse stay in the stable, if that kind of a trade 
will suit you." 

"Yah, yah, yah; why, marster, you doan mean dat, 
does you? Afore God dat would be de mos' curiousest 
bargan I'se hearn on; why, I declaar ef the Confeds 
would see dat hoss in my stable dey'd want to know how 
I got 'im right away, and I guess dey would take me 
too in order to settle de title." 

" I'll tell you how to do ; if anybody wants to know 
anything about that horse, you tell them that he is a 
stray that you have taken up, and that you're expecting 
the owner along every day." 

"Now, if you is a foolin' me go away, but ef you is 
in yarnest, why dar is de jack and I'll try and keep de 
hoss." 

"Well, I'll just charge you one thing to boot, and 
that is, if you have an old suit of clothes about the house 
that you don't care to use much longer, I will take them ; 
will you agree to that?" 

"Yes, sah, I'll call de old woman and see what she's 
got tucked away in de loft. Nancy ! oh, Nancy !" yelled 



66 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

the old darkey. Hearing herself called, the old woman 
left her corn cake on the clapboard before the fire, and 
thrusting her bandana covered head through the door, 
responded: " What does you want, Silas?" " Why, I 
wants you to look on de peg- by de chimbley and get me 
datdar last Sunday-suit of geans, and bring it hayer." 

The clothes were brought out in obedience to this com- 
mand and submitted to Bill for inspection. There was a 
pair of pants of saffron complexion, with a respectable 
rent in the left knee ; the vest was an indigo blue re- 
lieved by cross stripes of flaming red, and the coat was 
made with due regard for the ground color of the vest, 
but in matter of ornamentation the coat took a decided 
precedence, for, although the buttons bore a diversified 
character, they were, nevertheless, genuine brass and 
large enough for shields. 

The clothes fitted Bill quite as well as he desired, and 
with a big hat made of course unbleached straw he was 
ready with his patient jackass for the campaign. He had 
purposely allowed his whiskers to grow to considerable 
length and his hair had put off the neatly combed polish 
by which he was so well known. 

Having so completely disguised his usual appearance 
Bill felt that it would be impossible for anyone to distin- 
guish him in a crowd of corner-store natives ; so, setting 
out mounted on his novel conveyance, and carrying an 
old shot>gun, he traveled without fear of detection until 
ho reached Pine Bluff, whore a division of Van Dorn's 
army was stationed. After looking around the place one 
day ho went up to head-quarters and offered his services 
as a private in the Confederate army. Upon presenting 
himself to a recruiting sergeant that official could not re- 
frain from laughing heartily at the astonishing and 
grotesque figure standing before him. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



67 



"Well, sir," said the sergeant, " where the devil did 
you come from ? ' ' 

"Oh," responded Bill, "I got a little cabin up herein 
the Ozarks, where I've been livin' in a patch o' clearin' 
with this here jack and Bowlegs for the last twenty 
year." 

" Who is Bowlegs? " asked the sergeant. 

" Why, look a here, mister," replied Bill, " haven't you 




Wild Bill in Disguise. 

never hearn o' Bowlegs, the greatest wildcat and bar kill- 
er in the whole o' Arkansaw? Bowlegs is my dog, and 
ef you'd a seed him two months ago tackle a catamount, 
up on huckleberry hill, bigger'n my jack, you'd a bet the 
last bristle on yer back that he could whip anything that 
ever wore hair or straddled the Devil's Backbone. You 
see, the neighborhood had been a losin' o' pigs an' calfs 
for a long time, though pigs an' calfs is a scarce article 
up on the hill, an' " — 



68 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

" Well, never mindthe dog," growled the officer ; "we 
haven't time now to hear your account of Bowlegs ; we'll 
take for granted that he is the best lighter on the Devil's 
Backbone (the Ozark range of mountains is sometimes 
thus called), but we want men now that can tight just 
like your dog. Do you harbor the suspicion that you can 
do as good fighting as Bowlegs, especially if we should 
set you on a drove of Yankees? " 

" I think I mought make a full hand cf you'll fernish 
me with the amernition ; I got plenty caps jest now, but 
my powder an' shot is kinder run low," replied Bill. 

At this unsophisticated remark the sergeant and all 
those about him broke out in an almost uncontrollable fit 
of laughter, which lasted for several minutes ; but during 
all their cachinations Bill stood in mutt' astonishment, as 
if he had done something which conclusively established 
the fact that he was the most stupendous fool on earth. 

Recovering himself at length, the sergeant asked . 
"You don't suppose our soldiers tight with shot-guns, 
and such weapons as that you have in your hand, do 
you?" 

Opening his eyes in apparent wonder, Bill replied : 
" On course I do, case hain't shot-guns better ner squirrel 
rifles by a durn'd sight ? " 

The conversation finally terminated by the enlistment 
of Bill and the appraisement of his jackass, everyone 
supposing that the droll ignorance of the new recruit 
would furnish a constant diversion for the company to 
which he should be assigned. 

After some weeks were spent in camp the division was 
ordered to Pine Bluff, Bill being a private in Co. I, under 
('apt. Leverson. Curtis, leading his army of the frontier, 
was also marching in the direction of Duvall's Bluff with 
the intention of cutting off and destroying the Confederate 
supplies collecting at thai point. 



LIFE OF WILD IULL. »)9 

Before reaching the Bluffs, marching overland, the 
Confederate troops were reinforced by three hundred 
men who had been reconnoitering in advance of Price. 
On the following day after this junction was made a cor- 
poral who had been with Price in the engagement near 
Perryville and was a witness to the famous ride made by 
Bill and Nat. Tucket, being attracted by the assumed 
eccentricities of the spy, finally discovered, under all his 
cunning disguise, the daring Wild Bill, whose name was 
on the lips of every Confederate in Missouri and Arkan- 
sas. The corporal lost no time in reporting his discov- 
ery, and in a trice a detail of twelve men dropped their 
loaded guns and covered the body of Bill so effectually 
that any attempt at escape would have resulted in certain 
death. A court-martial was at once organized and the 
spy placed on trial. His conviction was secured in an 
hour's time and he was sentenced to be shot on the fol- 
io wins; morning. 

In a memorandum Bill made concerning this event he 
says : ' ' The Rcbs convicted me on mighty little evidence, 
and here I am now in a bad pickle ; it may be that 
they will shoot me to-morrow, but somehow I feel that 
some means of escape will offer. Curtis must be very 
near, for he has been reported, in camp, as coming like 
the devil beating bark, on a straight trail for the Bluffs. 
Something tells me that I will get out of this, and this 
feeling gives me nerve. I'll keep a lookout and see 
what's wmat." How this entry was made in his journal, 
while he was under a close guard, is not explained, but it 
is probable that he wrote it after his escape to indicate 
his feelings while under conviction, when the chances of 
escape were least favorable. 

Immediately after the trial was concluded — it being 
held in the evening while the division was encamped, — 



70 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Bill was removed to a small log hut, and to prevent the 
possibility of escape, as Van Dorn assumed, his arms 
were securely pinioned and a guard set over him to watch 
every movement. 

About midnight a dreadful storm of wind and rain 
began, which raged with great violence until morning. 
Bill's guard being very much fatigued, owing to the long 
march during the day, and trusting too much in his ability 
to rouse himself at the slightest movement made by the 
prisoner, sat down beside the closed door and gradually 
dozed off to sleep. Bill, having his hands strongly tied, 
saw how easily he could escape had the gyves about 
his wrists been a little less tightly drawn ; but every twist 
of his hands only served to break the skin under the 
unyielding thongs. This painful suspense and lapsing 
opportunity continued until nearly three o'clock in the 
morning, when golden fortune, who always gives her 
hand to the brave in their last extremity, disclosed to his 
sight the very slightly protruding handle of an old case- 
knife, the blade of which was hidden in the depths of an 
auger-hole. Most glorious vision ! the bright portal of 
life ! the realms of beatific possibility ; aye, the smoothe 
pathway leading from the black shadows of death out 
into the gorgeous light of salvation ! How precious must 
have appeared that old, worn-out, rusted, broken piece of 
steel ! to the condemned spy it was worth more than all 
the castles of polished ivory that the fabled Arabian Magi 
could have created, "for what will a man not give to savo 
his own life?" 

Stealthily creeping from the corner in which he was 
seated, Bill drew himself by inches toward the old knife, 
while the beating of his heart sounded to him like the long 
roll call. Gradually he grew nearer and nearer, until at 
last, crouching for a moment, he arose with his back 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



71 



against the log walls and seized the rusty handle in his 
pinioned hands. But still he was not free ; unable to 
make much available use of his hands, he withdrew the 
knife and then pushed the handle into the auger-hole, 
leaving a small part of the blade out ; he then began rub- 
bing the ropes between his wrists across the dull and 
rusted blade, until after what seemed to him an age of 




Wild Bill Surprises the Sleepy Sentinel. 

hard labor he felt the cords loosen ; they were cut and he 
was now a man with all the vigor God had so bounteously 
lodged in his well developed sinews. 

Bill did not wait long after cleaving the ropes which 
bound his hands, to put into execution one of those bold 
and desperate methods which serve to make his nameim- 



72 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

perishable. Taking the old case-knife in his right hand, 
he sprang upon the slumbering guard and in an instant 
the rusted blade was thrust into the throat of the sleeping 
victim and his neck almost severed in twain. Not a word 
escaped from the unconscious sentinel as the rusty knife 
flashed across his throat and let out the life-blood. Bill 
quickly stripped the dead guard of coat and hat, and 
placing them upon himself, with musket in hand, he 
stealthily left the log house and by aid of the darkness 
made good his escape, gaining Curtis' army on the fol- 
lowing day. 

This really marvelous escape from death impressed 
every one acquainted with the circumstances, with the 
extraordinary good luck and strategy which seemed never 
to forsake Wild Bill, but this impression was specially 
conspicuous among Van Dorn's men, many of whom, be- 
ing almost as ignorant as Bill had professed to be in 
joining the Confederate forces, honestly believed he was 
leagued with the devil and that he could not be killed. 



CHAPTER V. 

After finding himself secure in the Federal lines again, 
Bill immediately called on Gen. Curtis and imparted a 
great deal of useful information which resulted in much 
advantage t<> the Union forces, for the army moved at 
oiuc and intercepted Van Dorn before he reached Du- 
vall's Bluff. Here a hot battle was fought in which the 
Confederates were routed, a large amount of their stores 
captured, and the supply post occupied by the victorious 
Federals. But Bill positively refused to enter the ene- 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 73 

my's lines again, because he was now so well known in 
the Confederate army operating west of the Mississippi 
that to make another such attempt would be subjecting 
himself to almost certain death. He continued scouting, 
however, for some time afterward, and frequently went 
in the guise of a Confederate officer in order to secure 
the confidence of southern sympathizers, from whom 
much useful knowledge concerning the movements of 
Confederate troops was from time to time obtained. 

In 1864 Price made his second invasion into Missouri 
and Gen. Daviess was ordered to harass his rear until 
Curtis could return and reorganize a second campaign 
against the invaders. Southern Missouri had become the 
camping ground of Confederate detachments, and to 
operate against these bands Gen. Daviess established his 
headquarters at Rolla. Wild Bill, being well acquainted 
in Rolla, visited that place in the summer of 1864 and re- 
ported to headquarters for a commission to scout in the 
southern part of the State. Daviess was glad to secure 
his services, for several of the adjacent counties were 
seriously infested with independent bushwhackers claim- 
ing authority for their acts under Confederate commis- 
sions. 

While the camp was quietly waiting for Curtis to re- 
port from some point in Missouri where a junction might 
be formed, on the 25th of July Bill mounted his horse 
and without acquainting any one with his purpose, re- 
solved to make a private expedition through the southern 
part of Phelps county. He accordingly set out unaccom- 
panied and rode directly south, passing by Pilot Knob 
and through Elk prairie, meeting no one and finding no 
evidence of hostile occupation. Near the post village of 
Lake Spring, in the timber skirting a tributary of the 
Meramec river, however, he suddenly came upon three 



74 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

men well mounted and carrying carbines, witl. pistols in 
their outside belts. The trio, without proceeding by in- 
terrogatories to learn anything about Bill, commanded 
him to dismount, accompanying the order with a threat to 
shoot him if he delayed an instant. Without attempting 
any parley or considering the odds against him, Bill 
threw up his pistol, which he had in his right hand hang- 
ing on the off side of his horse, out of sight, and almost 
in the glance of an eye, he shot the three with such pre- 
cision that each tumbled to the ground with a mortal 
wound. One of the bushwhackers, however, while in 
the throes of death, summoned enough strength to raise 
on his elbow and fire at Bill, the bullet striking his sad- 
dle bow but doing him no personal injury. 

The three now riderless horses, frightened by the fir- 
ing, ran away, but fortunately all kept close together. 
Bill went at once in pursuit of the animals, one of which 
was a beautiful little black mare which he was specially 
anxious to possess. The chase continued for nearly six 
hours before Bill succeeded in capturing the three horses, 
but as they were running in the direction of Rolla, no 
time was lost. Tying the heads of the animals together 
he led them back to camp as prizes of war, making due 
report to his commanding officer. 

Gen. Daviess, not having been made acquainted with 
Bill's expedition, was at a loss to determine what had be- 
come of him, when suddenly witnessing his re-appear- 
ance vrith three horses, he at once concluded that Bill 
had been engaged in making reprisals from non-belliger- 
ants. 

Assuming a stern look the General enquired of him : 
" You have been out of camp for four days without 
leave ; where have you been operating, and where did 
you get those horses ?' ' 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 75 

Bill looked for a moment steadily at the General, whose 
gaze, instead of relaxing, bore sterner evidence of his be- 
lief that the horses had been stolen. Feeling keenly the 
suspicion, Bill answered in an imperious manner, "I'm 
not a private soldier, and as a scout I go where I please. 
The horses have been turned over to you, therefore I 
must say it's none of your d — d business where I got 
them." 

This insubordinate attitude and insulting language 
threw Gen. Daviess into a violent tit of anger, and in- 
tending some severe punishment he ordered Bill's arrest 
and confinement in the guard house. The command 
was promptly obeyed and the cavalier scout was hur- 
riedly conveyed to prison. On the same evening, about 
nine o'clock, as the General was riding around the 
post he was astonished at seeing Bill salute him from 
the sidewalk. Without saying a word to the mys- 
teriously liberated scout he rode directly to the guard 
house and in a thundering tone demanded of the guards 
why Will Bill had been permitted to escape. His aston- 
ishment greatly increased, however, when they assured 
the General that Bill was in the guard house ; but an ex- 
amination soon showed that they had been cleverly 
deceived ; for it was soon discovered that one of the 
other prisoners, whose term of service expired that even- 
ing, had changed clothes with Bill and himself remained 
in durance in order to give the popular scout his liberty. 

This devoted comradeship so affected Gen. Daviess 
that he at once pardoned the man who had contrived 
Bill's escape, and ordering both men to be sent to his 
headquarters, he repaired there himself to give them 
an unexpected greeting. 

When Bill and his devoted friend entered the General's 
office they were received with the greatest cordiality and 



76 HEROES OF THE PLAINS- 

invited to fill up on .some extra cogniac used by the Gen- 
eral only on special occasions. After speaking in the 
most feeling manner of the value of true comradeship, 
and complimenting the friendship which prompted one of 
his guests to sacrifice his own liberty to secure that of the 
other, the General turned to Bill and in a courteous and 
defferential manner asked him to relate the adventure by 
which he had come into possession of the horses. First 
excusing his hasty and insubordinate reply made during 
the day, Bill told the General all the circumstances of his 
private expedition, and in proof of his assertion he asked 
Gen. Daviess to send a party of men with him back to 
the spot where the fight took place, agreeing to produce 
the bodies of his victims. Accordingly on the following 
day a detail of his men accompanied Bill back to the 
banks of the Meramac tributary where the bodies of the 
three bushwhackers were found and properly buried. 

After the events here recorded Gen. Daviess became 
one of Bill's wannest friends, and had many other proofs 
of his great valor and services before the campaign of 
1864 closed. 

The little black mare captured from the bushwhackers, 
by Bill's urgent request, he was permitted to retain, and 
this animal afterward became one of the most famous 
horses ever bred in America. Being black as a raven, 
with limbs rounded with all the beautiful symmetry seen 
in the choicest blooded animals, she would attract marked 
attention among all the horses of the world. Bill gave 
her the name of Black Nell, and giving much care to her 
training, she became the heroine of many adventures, 
which will be recorded in a subsequent chapter. 

Early m January, 1865, Gen. Curtis, having again 
driven Price and Shelby out of Missouri, established his 
headquarters at Fort Leavenworth, where he could more 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 77 

readily observe the movements of guerrillas who contin- 
ued harassing convoys, couriers and weak posts in eas, 
ern Kansas and western Missouri. Wild Bill remained 
in the service as chief of scouts, but he was employed a 
greater part of the time in Missouri. 

in February, Man-to-yu-kee (Conquering Bear), one 
of the sub-chiefs of the Sioux Indians, a friendly tribe 




Man-to-yu-kee (Conquering Bear.) 

under the command of Gen. Jim Lane, came into Fort 
Leavenworth and reported to Gen. Curtis the encamp- 
ment of five hundred Choctaw warriors ten miles west of 
Lawrence, on the Kaw river. The Choctaw and Cherokee 
Indians, also some of the Creeks and Osages, were 
employed as soldiers by the Confederates, and although 
they performed very little service, yet the entire country, 



?8 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

especially eastern Kansas, was dreadfully excited over an 
anticipated Indian massacre of whites. Consequently, 
when Conquering Beai became the messenger of such 
news, reporting the fierce Choctaws in such close prox- 
imity, there was no little apprehension created even in 
the mind of the gallant Curtis. 

Sending for Wild Bill, whose acquaintance with the 
Indian character was thorough, Curtis recited the facts 
as reported by Conquering Bear, and then asked him 
what course of action he would advise. 

The reply was fully characteristic of the man's readi- 
ness to bravo any danger where his services might prove 
of value. Said Bill : 

" The Indian is a mighty uncertain animal, and those 
that profess the greatest friendship are very frequently 
the most deadly enemies. I'll tell you my idea : You 
send me back to the Sioux camp with this chief, and 
before I return, you can depend on it I will know how 
many Choctaws are near Lawrence and what they are up 
to. If I'm not back here in four days, just put it down 
that I've dropped my scalp." 

Curtis replied : " It looks to me as though such a trip 
would bo very hazardous if the hostile Indians are really 
near Lawrence, unless you should take one or two hun- 
dred men with you." 

" I don't want any one with me," answered Bill, " ex- 
cept Conquering Bear, and if he deceives me or is trying 
to lay some devilish trap, then one of us will lift the 
other's hair. No, I will only take Black Nell, and am 
prepared to leave here for the Indian camp early to-morrow 
morning." 

" Well," responded Curtis, " if you think it possible 
to penetrate the Indian camp, or learn tho exact location 
and intention of the Choctaws, I think tho importance 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 79 

of learning these facts warrant me in sending you ; there- 
fore, whatever you may require it shall be provided, and 
I can only hope for your safe return." 

Bill sent for the Indian chief, and after acquainting 
him with Gen. Curtis' desire, said : "I shall go with you 
directly to your people, and then I shall expect you to 
guide me to the hostile camp ; but remember, if you de- 
ceive me in the least thing, one of us will have to die." 

The Indian made many assuring promises that his loy- 
alty to the Union and enmity to the Choctaws alone 
prompted his desire to lead the Federal troops into the 
enemy's camp. 

On the following day, pursuant to the arrangements, 
Wild Bill and the Indian started for Lawrence, which 
place they readied the same evening, and shortly after- 
ward went through the Sioux camp. Leaving there after 
night, the two proceeded westward until suddenly, in the 
darkness, Conquering Bear gave a singular whoop, and, 
hiding quickly in the bushes, left Bill surrounded by a 
band of Choctaws. The treachery of the Sioux chief was 
now plainly apparent, and Bill saw that he had been pur- 
posely led inside the hostile pickets. The Indians rushed 
out from every side, but the darkness was so profound that 
Bill was screened from his enemies, three of whom he killed 
when they came too close. His little black mare, with 
the intelligence of a scout herself, was so obedient that 
by a tap of the hand she lay down or ran from covert to 
covert as Bill desired. The Indians, in the meantime, 
ran upon one another in the darkness, being unable to 
locate their would-be victim, and by a series of strategies, 
such as giving the Indian whoop and other signals which 
Bill well knew, he managed to elude the Choctaws, and 
finally escaped without receiving the least injury. 

After an absence of nearly four days Bill returned to 
Fort Leavenworth and made due report to Gen. Curtis 



80 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

of the circumstances of his trip, and thereupon asked for 
a leave of absence for one week. His request being 
granted, Bill went directly to Lawrence and began active 
endeavors looking to a personal meeting with Conquering 
Bear. Being well acquainted with the language and pe- 
culiarities of the Sioux, Bill soon found opportunity for 
sating his revenge. A young warrior from the tribe be- 
ing seen walking the streets of Lawrence, Bill approached 
him cleverly and by a liberal treatment to whisky and 
gew-gaws soon gained his confidence and friendship. 
Through this intermediary Bill was not long in reaching 
Conquering Bear, who, through promises of a secret re- 
ward awaiting him at a spot three miles east of the town, 
was easily allured to a sequestered place unaccompanied 
except by the young fellow who had faithfully followed 
Bill's instructions. 

The two Indians were proceeding slowly as if expect- 
ing to meet with some persons bearing rich rewards, when 
suddenly Bill rose out of his hiding place and confronted 
the dusky traitor. For a moment they stood perfectly 
still, eyeing each other, one filled with fear, the other 
with desire for revenge. Drawing from his belt two pis- 
tols Bill threw one to Conquering Bear and told him to 
defend himself ; but the Indian knew the deadly aim of 
his antagonist and refused to fight with the pistol. Bill 
then told him he had either to fight or suffer the death 
of the dog he was. Conquering Bear tried to parley, but 
being forced to accept immediate terms for a fight, he at 
length chose the knife, the long, keen-pointed bowie, 
with a blade two inches in width and an edge sharp as 
death's visage. Men on the border invariably carry this 
desperate weapon, and Conquering Bear was an expert in 
its use, but not more proficient than was Bill ; each could 
throw the blade through the body of a one-inch sapling 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 81 

at the distance of ten paces, and in the manual exercise 
with a bowie they were truly professional. 

Bill quickly accepted the terms proposed by the Indian 
and in a cool and calculating manner selected a level 
spot and then instructed the Indian youth to prepare it 
for the duel. This he did by kicking off the leaves and 
twigs and drawing a circle ten feet in diameter in which 
the contestants were to meet each other. The arrange- 
ments having been perfected, Bill stepped inside the cir- 
cle and called to Conquering Bear, but the Indian acting 
as though fear had transfixed him, stood motionless until 
Bill threatened to shoot him dead in his tracks if he did 
not engage in combat at once. This threat aroused him, 
and with a lithesome spring he leaped inside the imagin- 
ary enclosure, his great knife gleaming in his right hand, 
which was raised to a level with his face. The two mor- 
tal enemies as they stood for a moment calculating the 
opportunities for a first deadly thrust, were objects qf 
really magnificent terror. Such beauty of physical pro- 
portions and such an exhibition of marvellous courage 
were doubtless never before witnessed in a personal com- 
bat as, with breasts bared to the steel, the two antago- 
nists glared at each other a moment before commencing 
the deadly onset. Bill was the first to make a motion, 
stepping forward quickly one pace and delivering a feint ; 
the Indian drew back, but partly stooped as if to make a 
rush, then like two enraged lions they sprang at each 
other, meeting in the center of the ring, and catching the 
points of their knives they remained clashed together for 
several minutes. There now succeeded a violent strug- 
gle, their dreadful weapons remaining edge to edge, 
while the left hand of each was around the other's body, 
every muscle standing out in great ridges, evidencing the 
terrible strain produced by the efforts of each to throw 



82 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

or disadvantage the other. Like two fighting bull-dogs 
when both secure a strong hold, clinging tenaciously un- 
til exhaustion forces a relinquishment of the grasp ; it 
was thus that Bill and his antagonist clung to each other 
until tired nature caused a separation. Their eyes, how^ 
ever, kept faithful watch during a brief respite in the 
encounter. 

After a lapse of fully ten minutes the Indian, having 
recovered from his first fright, was the first to advance 
for a re-engagement, but Bill showed equal anxiety to 
begin the desperate work, and both being intensely en- 
raged the second encounter produced frightful results. 
They came together with terrific force, but with marvel- 
lous dexterity each expert caught the knife of the other 
on the edge of their respective weapons. But they did 
not clinch this time, for they now foresaw only ex- 
haustion in such tactics which might permit an almost 
resistless execution of the one of the least endurance, 
each doubting his own superiority. A few moments 
were spent in feints, change of positions, backing and 
advancing until conceiving his opportunity, Bill gave a 
terrible thrust at the Indian's heart, but a buckle on the 
swarthy warrior's breast diverted the blow from its pur- 
pose ; the knife was deflected slightly after striking, but 
went downward with sueh force that it cut through the 
Indian's jacket and opened a fearful gash, several inches 
in length, in his side, from which the blood gushed in tor- 
rents. But in giving his enemy this dreadful wound Bill 
did not escape without serious injury. Seeing the thrust 
made, the Indian struck hard at Bill's heart, but the 
knife was caught in the scout's left arm and struck to 
the bone near the shoulder point and stripped the flesh 
half way to his elbow. From these two wounds the 
ground soon became covered with blood, and yet the fight 




WILD BILL'S DUEL WITH CONQUERING SEAR. 



LIFE OF MILD BILL. 85 

continued while the strength of each flowed rapidly 
away. The Indian grew weak very fast now, and realiz- 
ing that if victory came to him it must be through an 
effort speedily made, he thrust at Bill with great violence 
and precision, but the dextrous scout skillfully parried 
the effort and the next instant his knife went through the 
neck of Conquering Bear, splitting through the tendons, 
and cutting the jugular vein. With a convulsive twinge 
of the body and straightening of the right arm the In- 
dian fell forward, burying his tightly clutched knife in 
the ground to the hilt. 

The young Indian who had remained a horrified spec- 
tator of this most terrible of all personal conflicts, seeing 
the chief fall dead went up to Bill at once and bandaged 
his wounded arm, so that the flow of blood was partly 
stopped. Bill returned to Lawrence and on the same 
day left for Kansas City, where he placed himself in 
charge of his old physician and friend, Dr. Joshua 
Thorne. But the wound was an obstinate one, and 
caused him pain and annoyance for years afterward. 

This memorable battle was fought on the 22d day of 
January, 1865. The object of Conquering Bear's 
treachery in trying to compass the death of Wild Bill, 
was, no doubt, to obtain a reward that had been offered 
by some of Bill's enemies to accomplish their cowardly 
purposes. These rewards were very frequent immedi- 
ately after the close of the war, some of which and the 
circumstances under which they were offered, will be 
described in subsequent chapters. 

The Indian boy who had served Bill in this matter was 
duly recompensed ; in addition to a liberal receipt of 
money, Bill took him to Kansas City, gave him many 
advantages and finally went back with him to the Sioux, 
upon the Niobrara river, where their reservation lay. 



86 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

After the close of the civil war, Wild Bill decided to 
quit the States for a while and pass a season on the Nio- 
brara trapping for beaver and otter. He was encouraged 
in this decision by the young Indian who had aided him 
so materially in satisfying his vengeance against Con- 
quering Bear. This young buck whom Bill, in his 
diary, calls Joe, had returned with his tribe, after the 
close of their operations along the Kaw river, to their res- 
ervation in Nebraska, and had frequently begged Bill to 
pass a season with him on the Niobrara. After the kill- 
ing of Man-to-yu-kee, the Sioux entertained a very ex- 
alted opinion of Bill, particularly because the dead chief 
had been exceedingly unpopular among his own people. 
These several circumstances, added to which game for 
the trap was reported as being abundant on the Niobrara, 
which ran through the Sioux reservation, influenced Bill 
to depart for that country in the fall of 1865. 

Among the Sioux was a sister of Indian Joe, named 
Mary Logan, whom Bill declares was a direct descendant 
of the great chief of that name, though there was a 
goodly amount of white blood in her veins. This girl 
was about eighteen years of age when Bill first became 
acquainted with her, and he rarely mentioned her with- 
out going into raptures over her beauty. 

Within a few days after lie first met Mary Logan he 
could not avoid observing the love which was lighted in 
her heart ; she lingered about him as though influenced 
by some magnetic or mesmeric force : hungered for the 
honey of his words and her ej'es bespoke the admiration 
in which she held him. Her bounteous hospitality and 
persuasive words, together with the persistent solicitations 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 87 

of her brother Joe, finally induced Bill to make her home 
his own during the season. This home was only a little 
log cabin containing a single room, with a large fire- 
place, before which hung, almost constantly, many 
pieces of jerked venison, antelope and buffalo meat. It 
was not such a place as love usually selects to build her 
bowers, but this Indian maiden admired the white face, 
and more especially the comely, symmetrical features of 
Wild Bill, whose fame as the most daring of Western 
heroes, had been disseminated among every Indian tribe 
west of the Mississippi river. 

Being unable at last to endure his absence, Mary Lo- 
gan begged Bill to allow her to accompany him on his 
rounds in examining his traps, and to be with him on his 
frequent hunts, a privilege which he gladly permitted , for 
the girl was very handsome, excellent company, and so 
devoted to him that her constant care was for his happi- 
ness. 

The cabin in which the Logans and Wild Bill lived, 
was so circumscribed in its limits that the single room 
was made to subserve all the purposes of an Indian fam- 
ily, which are, of course, but few. This intimate com- 
panionship continued for a period of six months, during 
which time Bill had taught the girl how to read and 
write, indifferently but yet intelligibly. Notwithstand- 
ing this truly remarkable intimacy, in many particulars 
equally close as the most devoted man and wife, Bill 
always declared that the girl never lost her virtue, that 
her honesty was almost phenomenal, for she would 
readily have sacrificed her life rather than have forfeited 
the jewel of her chastity. There is something in this 
poor Indian girl's character which is pathetically beauti- 
ful ; an uncultivated bud in the great garden of God's 
diversified creation ; reared in her own simplicity and 



88 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

protected by no words of wise counsel or warning, noth- 
ing but the shield of her innate innocence. Her love was 
pure as the fountain at its source, as sweet as the nectar 
of heaven's own distillation, as coy and confiding as the 
soul that gives itself into the keeping of a loved one. 

The trapping season having closed and spring time 
drawing on apace, Wild Bill bade his prairie maiden 
adieu and returned to Missouri, but before proceeding to 
a description of his subsequent adventures it is interest- 
ing to follow the now despondent Indian girl, for her life 
took on many grievous vicissitudes after her parting from 
her white lover, who was the ideal of noble manhood in 
her estimation. 

In the succeeding fall (1866) a fellow named Rogers, 
from St. Louis, found Mary Logan among her people, 
still on the Niobrara, and being captivated by her beau- 
tiful face and figure proposed marriage, which she ac- 
cepted, not because his affection was reciprocated, but 
solely because he promised to take her with him to St. 
Louis where, they would make their home. The poor 
girl had never ceased grieving for "Wild Bill and she'be- 
lieved that, living in Missouri, whither she knew he had 
gone, she would find opportunities to sec him often. 
Mary Logan therefore sacrificed her maidenhood and 
went to the States as Mrs. Rogers. 

By singular coincidence very soon after reaching St. 
Louis she did meet Wild Bill in one of the numerous 
parks of that city, and in the meeting her joy was bound- 
less. When he left her again it was with the promise 
that a correspondence should be maintained between 
the two. 

Several months elapsed, during which time a weekly 
exchange of Letters passed between Mrs. Rogers and Bill 
without the husband entertaining even a suspicion of 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



80 



such a fact. Much evil, however, was destined to flow 
from this pleasant correspondence. Bill's letters were so 
precious in her sight that, instead of prudently destroy- 
ing them, she kept each one as though it were a priceless 
treasure. One of these communications at length fell 
into the hands of the husband, and as the language was 
of a decidedly affectionate character, the justly jealous 
husband at once accused his Indian wife of infidelity, 
treachery, duplicity and outrageous conduct ; all this she 
bore with perfect resignation, but when he began the 




Wild Bill and Mrs. Rogers in the Park 



same kind of abuse against Wild Bill she flew at him 
with all the inflamed indignation of her nature and a do- 
mestic scene ensued. Still they lived together, but 
shortly afterward removed to Kansas City, where a 
second letter of Bill's being discovered, the same scene 
was re-enacted as that which had transpired over the first 
discovery at St. Louis. Rogers having severely chastised 
his wife and threatened Wild Bill with death, Mary re- 
solved to kill her husband. To accomplish this she had 



90 HEROES OF THE PLAIXS. 

recourse to poison, mixing it with his coffee, and soon 
after Rogers had drank the fatal potion he was a corpse. 
All these facts she wrote to Bill and then disappeared, 
going hack to her former Indian life, it is supposed, but 
so completely did she conceal her identity that Bill never 
again heard of her. It is possible that the sore heart 
which gave her such great distress — finding that she 
could never become the wife of the man she loved dear- 
est of all on earth — finally admonished her to find rest 
and peace in a suicide's death. 

Upon his return to the States Wild Bill went directly 
to Springfield, Mo., where he soon after engaged in a 
duel with one of the most desperate men that ever start- 
ed a graveyard. At this time ( 1867) Springfield was the 
place of rendezvous for scores of roughs, gamblers and 
dangerous characters generally. In one respect it was a 
meeting place for the desperado element created by the 
civil war. The southern half of Missouri had been strong- 
ly inclined toward secession, and the Confederate forces 
had been augmented by many companies recruited below 
the Mason and Dixon line, and especially from the dis- 
trict immediately adjacent to Springfield. When the war 
closed, of course these discharged soldiers returned to 
their homes with the spirit of Southern sympathy still 
uppermost, while defeat had only served to increase their 
bitterness toward those whose political sentiments were 
in sympathy with the North. 

Wild Bill was known (if not personally, at least by 
reputation) to every man, woman and child in and about 
Springfield, and his enemies— bitter, uncompromising, 
deadly foes — were numbered by scores ; yet he lingered 
about the place as though the danger in so doing had 
Income an irresistible allurement. But one of the prin- 
cipal attractions about Springfield, to him, was the unre- 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 91 

stricted gambling carried on in nearly every other house 
on the business streets. The place had literally become a 
paradise for sporting characters, of which class Bill was 
not only a member in good standing, but occupied a dis- 
tinguished position. He gambled with all the naturalness 
that characterizes a duckling when it first strikes water — 
not so much for profit, perhaps, as for the excitement it 
afforded. 

Though he was constantly surrounded by numerous 
enemies who would have given half their future for his 
life, yet they stood in awe of his cool intrepidity, the 
precision of his aim, the charmed life which seemed to 
have preserved him for more gallant acts, and the proud 
carriage of his person which told so plainly that he knew 
nothing of fear. Any other man than he would have been 
dragged to the nearest tree and throttled, while a crowd 
of jeering desperadoes would have either lent a ready 
hand or stood by and applauded the deed ; but the bark 
of his pistol meant the bite of a bullet, and men rarely 
become so lost to discretion as to fail in their respect for 
leaden pellets. 

Some time during the summer, a terror to the neighbor- 
hood, named Dave Tutt (formerly a spy in the Confeder- 
ate service), came to Springfield — some said for the ex- 
press purpose of killing Bill — and at once threw himself 
into the gambling element of the place, and per conse- 
quence, soon met Wild Bill. The two engaged in a fifty- 
dollar limit game of poker in the second-story of a build- 
ing fronting the north side of the public square. Bill 
played in bad luck and lost several hundred dollars, and 
on the last hand he called when the bet was twenty-five 
dollars more than he could put up. Being unable to dis- 
charge the debt at that moment, he made a memorandum 
of the amount and bade Tutt good-night. 



92 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

After Bill had retired to his room he resolved never to 
play in a game with Tutt again, as the suspicion just then 
dawned upon him that he had been cheated. But he 
kept his own counsel, and on the following day bor- 
rowed fifty dollars more of Tutt, and with this money he 
soon afterward raised another handsome stake. 

Three evenings after his first mime with the ex-Con- 
federate spy Bill was m the same gambling room and 
there he again met Tutt, who proposed another game of 
poker To this Bill objected, but in such manner as led 
Tutt to believe that he was no match for such a dexterous 
player. Tutt then offered to stake a friend against Bill, 
and this proposition being approved the two began to 
play. Before beginning the game, however, Bill drew a 
large gold watch from his pocket, and laying it on the 
table before him, said to his partner: "Now I'll play 
you a twenty-five dollar limit until one of us is broken, or 
until twelve o'clock ; at that time I must quit, and there- 
fore want this fact understood at the beginning." 

Bill played this time in such excellent luck that Tutt's 
friend required frequent staking, and in a couple of 
hours' time his Avinnings were over five hundred dollars. 
Tutt began to show signs of reluctance in putting up any 
more for his unlucky friend, and in a tone betraying 
much anger said : 

"Bill, you arc now ahead of this game enough to pay 
me that fifty dollars I loaned you, and also that forty 
dollars I won off you Tuesday night, and I want the 
money right now," at the same time striking the table 
with his fist. 

"All right, Dave," responded Bill, kk here is the fifty 
dollars I borrowed, and now here is the twenty-jive dol- 
lars I owe you on the bet I called Tuesday night." 

"That won't do, Bill," replied Tutt, "you owe me 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 93 

fifteen dollars more, and I intend to have it right here, 
or you won't get this watch again," taking up Wild 
Bill's watch and shoving it into his pocket. 

Bill arose from the table and looking Tutt in the eye 
very coolly remarked : " Well, Dave, I'll pay you every 
cent I owe ; here is my memorandum book and you saw 
me enter the amount I overbet at the time ; it was 
twenty-jive dollars, not forty." 

Tutt now began to manifest great rage and called Bill 
several vile names, while all in the room fairly held their 
breath in anticipation of a mortal combat. But they 
were disappointed. Without betraying the least excite- 
ment, Bill replied to Tutt: "I don't want any row in 
this gentleman's house, but, Dave, you had better put 
that watch back on the table or somebody will get badly 
hurt. I'll leave this matter to the boys who were present 
when you won the twenty-five dollars, and if they say it 
was forty dollars I'll pay you the money, but not other- 
wise." 

Tutt only pursed up his lip at Bill, and turning about 
started out of the room, at the same time saying : "I'll 
just keep this watch all the same, and if you want it 
bad enough you can meet me in the public square to- 
morrow morning at nine o'clock, for I intend to carry 
it across the square at that hour." 

" You'll never get across that place with my watch 
unless dead men can walk," replied Bill; and thus the 
two parted, Tutt taking the gold time-piece with him. 

This singular dialogue astonished the gamblers present 
as they were never before. Some began to think that 
Bill's courage was chiefly on paper, and that he was 
really afraid of Tutt. But the true reason an encounter 
was not preciptated in the room at the time was undoubt- 
edly the fact, which both realized, that even an attempt 



94 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



to draw a pistol would have resulted in the certain death 
of each ; because they were both skilled in the use of 
weapons and death wound would not have prevented a 
return shot. 

On the following morning (Saturday, September 12th) 
nearly the entire male population of Springfield and 
vicinity, hearing of the threatened duel, assembled about 
the public square at an early hour. The law-abiding and 
peace-preserving class was too small, or indisposed, to 
restrain the two men from fighting to the death in the 




Wild Bill Satisfies the Natives. 

most prominent spot of the town. In fact any attempt 
at interference would not have been tolerated. Tho 
event promised altogether too much amusement for tho 
crowd to endure a postponement. 

Promptly at nine o'clock Dave Tutt stepped out from 
the crowd on the west side of the square, and holding 
up the watch so that every one could see it, made some 
bravado remarks and started toward the center of the 
then enclosed place, carrying a large navy pistol in his 
right hand. Bill was equally prompt, and advanced 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 95 

toward Tutt briskly, scarcely showing the ivory-handled 
pistol which he nearly covered with his hand. When 
within ten paces of each other Tutt was the first to raise 
his pistol, and instantly there were two reports which rang 
out in such quick succession as caused many who were 
unable to secure a good view, to believe, for a moment, 
that only one shot had been fired. There was no doubt 
concerning the result, however, for Tutt dropped his pis- 
tol, and clapping both hands over his heart fell forward 
without uttering a word. The bullet from his pistol 
whistled harmlessly by Bill's head and buried itself in 
an opposite building, where the mark may still be seen. 
The instant his pistol was discharged, and without noting 
the result, Bill wheeled in his tracks and, pointing Iiis 
pistol at Tutt's friends, coolly asked, "Are you satis- 
fied?" He expected a general attack from his old. 
enemies, and was therefore fully piepared to face any 
consequences, but while they showed their weapons there 
were none in the crowd bold enough to appeal the result 
before them. 

Bill was arrested directly after the shooting, but even 
in a place where he had few friends and many enemies, 
the respect for his daring nature was such that at a pre- 
liminary examination he was discharged upon the ground 
of self-defense, and the grand-jury never took cognizance 
of the tragedy which was played so true to nature before- 

a town for an audience. 
6 



96 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Leaving Springfield, soon after the killing of Tutt, 
Bill went to Nebraska, where he again engaged in trap- 
ping, but only for a brief period, owing to an incident 
which made ft judicious for him to leave that country, 
and which may be described as follows : Having tried for 
beaver on several of the creeks of Nebraska without 
meeting favorable results, he changed his quarters with 
the intention of testing some of the branches in the 
southeastern part of the then Territory. Reaching Jef- 
ferson county Bill chanced upon a country saloon which 
derived a patronage from wayfarers and cow-boys. 
Hitching his horse he went into the saloon and called for 
a drink. In the place at the time were half a dozen 
herders, all in a partial state of intoxication — that con- 
dition which invites either a fight or a treat with the 
same desire. 

In response to Bill's order the bar-keeper set out a 
glass and the usual black bottle, at the same time giving 
such a look as indicated the inquiry, "See here, stranger, 
what are you a doin' in these here diggins?" Four of 
the cow-boys, seeing Bill in the act of taking a treat all 
to himself, got up from the boxes on which they had been 
sitting and began to interview the new-comer. Bill gave 
no heed to their insults, but just as he was in the act of 
raising the glass to his lips one of the herders, anxious 
to test the stranger's pluck, gave Bill such a sudden push 
in the back that the liquid was dashed all over his face, 
his hat fell off, and in the momentum he struck the 
counter so hard that it was nearly turned over. 

Without uttering a word Bill Avhceled about and struck 
the curiously inclined fellow a blow that sent him on the 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



97 



fly over three or four boxes, and into the corner, where 
he lay limp and bleeding like a stricken ox. The other 
herders were now in for a fight and were bound to have 
it ; Bill tried to pacify them and show the justification 
of his act, but his mild language only excited them the 
more. Seeing that some shooting had to be done, Bill 
proposed to fight any four of the men with patois at a 
distance of five or fifteen paces, just as they might choose. 
This proposition was readily accepted, with the provi- 
sion that the bar-keeper should act as umpire, giving the 




A Duel with Four Men. 

word when to fire. A distance of fifteen paces was duly 
marked off and the four men took positions five feet 
apart, each party being allowed to shoot when the word 
•' fire" should be given, and then to advance and fire at 
will. 

The bar-keeper, who was a bald-headed, cross-eyed 
specimen of uncivilized villain}-, pronounced the affair a 
delightful little sporting event, and with a doubtful smile 
on his ugly face stood in the doorway of his saloon and 
shouted : 

"Are you all ready? One, two, three — fire ! " 



98 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Before the last word had died from his lips Bill had 
killed the man on the left, but at the same time he re- 
ceived a wound in the right shoulder which caused his 
arm to fall uselessly by his side. It required but an 
instant, however, to snatch the pistol in his left hand, 
and being ambidextrous his fatal precision dropped the 
other three men with as many shots. 

Examination disclosed the fact that three of the men 
were shot in the brain and must have died instantly ; the 
other was struck in the right cheek and a large portion 
of his jaw was carried away, but he survived, and was 
living three years ago (1878) in Kansas City. The 
names of the four men were Seth Beeber, Jim Slater, 
Frank Dowder, and Jack Harkness, the latter being the 
survivor of that terrible fight. 

Bill's wound gave him much pain, but notwithstanding 
this and the apparent kindness of the bar-keeper and 
others in the saloon, who carefully bandaged the in- 
jured limb, Bill very Aviscly concluded that the locality 
Was now decidedly too insalubrious for him to remain 
thereabouts. On the same day he set out on his favorite 
black " Nell " for Kansas City, where he arrived on the 
29th of December, seven days after the fight occurred. 
His wound had become very much worse owing to neg- 
lect , and for two months he was confined to his room, 
suffering great pain in the meantime, but before spring 
his recovery was so far accomplished that he was able to 
join the expedition against Black Kettle. 

This expedition was organized to punish the Chey- 
ennes who had left their reservation and started upon a 
career of brutal atrocities. They had murdered many 
settlers in western Kansas, participating with their 
northern brothers in the dreadful massacre on the Re- 
publican river, and then separating continued their dep- 
redations along the Wachita and Canadian rivers. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 99 

Two commands, one under Gen. Primrose and the 
other under Gen. Carr, were sent out after the perpetra- 
tors of these malignant, inhuman crimes. Wild Bill was 
made chief of scouts under the former, and Buffalo Bill 
filled the same responsible position under Gen. Carr; 
subsequently, however, the two commands were consoli- 
dated, and Wild Bill was made first assistant chief of 
scouts under Buffalo Bill. The Indians were hotly pur- 
sued for more than one month before a decisive eno-age- 
ment could be precipitated. Early in March, '69, the 
Cheyennes were brought to bay on the north side of the 
Wachita river, near the Antelople Hills in Indian Terri- 
tory, and a memorable battle was the result. The In- 
dians were found encamped in a thick woods, and so 
strong was their position that the most desperate fighting 
was required to dislodge them. Black Kettle, one of the 
ablest chiefs that ever led a body of rapacious Cheyennes, 
was in command of the Indians, and so powerful was his 
very name that many renegades from the Arrapahoes and 
Kiowas, under Little Raven and Satanta, had joined their 
fortunes with him. The fight was begun by a charge 
from the front under Primrose, while Carr executed a 
simultaneous flank movement and attacked the Indians 
in the rear with such force that they were driven from 
their first position. This advantage the troops followed 
up speedily, and though the loss had been very severe, 
every man in the command felt the importance of now 
doing his full duty, however great the sacrifice. The 
woods resounded with the }'ells of charging squadrons, 
and soon squads of Indians were flying from covert to 
covert like frightened animals in a corral of hunters. 
Wild Bill and Buffalo Bill were the heroes of that day, 
and their deadly rifles did the execution of an entire com- 
pany ; without regard for the danger they incurred, each 



100 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

rode into the very midst of the Indians, and with such 
destructive effect that they are credited with having killed 
no less than fifty of the red-skins. But it was reserved 
for Wild Bill to win the greater honor. Black Kettle, 
realizing how disastrous had become the battle, sought 
safety in precipitate flight ; but he was espied by Wild 
Bill, who ran a gauntlet of spears, tomahawks and rifles, 
and, catching the famous chief, plunged a bowie-knife 
through his back and heart. But in performing this 
desperate feat, Bill was struck through the left hip with 
a spear and nearly unhorsed. So pressed was he by more 
than a hundred Indians, that the trophy of a chief's scalp 
could not be secured ; and but for the plucky aid of Buf- 
falo Bill, who plunged in among the Indians and dealt 
death with a lavish hand, Wild Bill would certainly have 
been killed. His wound soon became so painful from the 
effects of the poison with which the spear was dipped, 
that after the battle was concluded it became necessary to 
convey him back to Ft. Hays in an ambulance. The In- 
dians were so badly beaten that very few escaped, and 
those few soon afterward came in and surrendered. All 
the squaws and children of the tribe were taken, among 
the number being a sister of Black Kettle, who was after- 
ward killed at Hays under peculiarly lamentable circum- 
stances, as will be found described in the life of Capt . 
Payne. 

Wild Bill's condition did not improve, and being in great 
need of complete rest for some time in order to insure 
recovery, he resolved to visit his old homo in Illinois. 
The wound received in his Nebraska duel had not yet 
entirely healed, and the fistula formed from the cut 
received in his tight with Conquering Bear was still sup- 
purating and painful. 

On the 3d of April Wild Bill returned to the 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 103 

home he had left in his approaching manhood, more 
than thirteen years before. His aged mother was in the 
doorway to welcome him, but there were so many changes 
in the appearance of mother and son that only the same 
hearts remained to give recognition. From the boy whose 
prowess and adventure had never extended beyond the 
occupation of wolf-scalping before his departure, James 
Hickok had been transformed into "Wild Bill," whose 
wonderful deeds were on the lips of every American and 
had interested every reader of border history. The proph- 
esy he made when first reading the life of Kit Carson had 
been fulfilled and a world had recognized his intrepid 
daring, his unexampled strategy and his peerless charac- 
ter in the civilizing process through which the great West 
was passing. He had returned, laden with his honors, to 
rest a while under the roof which had sheltered his in- 
fancy, and to stray along the Vermillion's banks, wooing 
remembrance of his youthful days and looking backward 
over the path which ambition had made him travel. Un- 
der the loving care of his mother and affectionate kin- 
dred, Wild Bill soon felt returning strength and conva- 
lescence. 



CHAPTER Vni. 



Two months passed pleasantly away with Bill, for from 
the hard service he had so long endured, the delicate 
attention he now received was like soothing balm to his 
wounds, and there was a rapid recovery. But the rest- 
less spirit soon became conscious of its restrictions in the 
old home of his nativity, and with recovery came the 



104 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

desire for new adventures on the wild wilderness of the 
Western prairies. Before returning West, he concluded 
to visit one of his boyhood friends named Heman Bald- 
win, who was a resident of Chicago. Upon reaching that 
city Baldwin, having been apprised of his intended visit, 
met Bill at the depot and gave him a warm reception, 
after which the two drove around to the principal places 
of interest, and Bill was introduced to several of the most 
prominent gentlemen in the city. 

On the evening of the second day after Bill's arrival in 
Chicago, in the company of his friend Baldwin, he went 
into the billiard hall that was attached to the St. James 
hotel. Being dressed in the genuine garb of a frontiers- 
man, buckskin clothes trimmed with leather fringe, he 
naturally attracted much attention everywhere on the 
streets, but at no place did the curiosity of Chicagoans 
display itself so much as in the billiard hall ; men actu- 
ally left off in the midst of their games to gaze enquir- 
ingly at the singular stranger, and Bill soon found him- 
self the cynosure of all eyes. 

Among those who made up the crowd in the saloon 
were seven compatriots of hoodlumism, fellows whose 
airy tongues, swaggering style, and noses bedizened with 
the torch-light of whisky's ensign, indicated plainly their 
belligerent and crime loving proclivities. They fixed 
their gnze on Bill with curious interest until the seven 
concluded it would afford them much satisfaction and re- 
dound no little to their reputation to give the stranger a 
severe threshing — just by way of illustrating how tame 
Chicago boys could handle the wild plainsman. 

In order to introduce the social affray one of the party 
accosted Bill in the following manner : 

" Say, you, leather breeches, where did you come 
from?" 



LIFE OF WELD BILL. 105 

' ' I came from a section of country where everybody 
minds his own business, a place you never saw," re- 
sponded Bill. 

" Why, the Indian scalper is a little sharp ; but there 
are some feathers in his wings that ought to be cut," 
another of the roughs suggested. 

To this second insult Bill paid no attention because he 
anticipated the object of the crowd and was anxious to 
avoid trouble. A third one, however, considering his 
turn had come to say something witty, addressed Bill : 

" I suppose that everybody in your country dresses in 
raw-hide and washes every morning in a pot of fresh 
blood ; ain't that so, Wild-Bull-of-the-Woods ? " 

" Well, a country of that kind is better than the one 
you came from, where there isn't a fellow who knows his 
own father," replied Bill. 

This cutting rebuke created a perfect tempest among 
the irascible hoodlums. Another quickly walked to- 
ward Bill and fairly spit out between his teeth the in- 
quiry : 

' s Do you mean to say that our mothers are not honest 
women?" 

" I mean," answered Bill, "if they are it was d — d 
bad business they got into when you were begotten." 

The words were scarcely out of his mouth before the 
bullies gathered billiard cues and assailed Bill with an ex- 
pressed determination to take his scalp in a manner pe- 
culiar to the lake-side city. 

Although still lame and sore from the wounds in his hip 
and arm, Bill forgot these in the fight which ensued. 
In a second he had grabbed a cue, which was as quickly 
broken convenient to his hand, and then the trouble be- 
came at once very serious. The fight, in fact, was a 
counterpart of Gilhooley's affair at Tim Finnigan's 



106 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

wake, when a shillalah was worth a crown a second. 
Baldwin, Bill's friend, was, of course, engaged and did 
splendid service as a reserve, wielding a cue with much 
dexterity. Bill was struck several times on the head and 
arms, one of the strokes cutting a long, deep gash in his 
forehead, but he fought with the same cool desperation 
which had brought him so much glory and a decisive 
victory at Bock Creek. 

At the end of ten minutes the seven Chicago braggarts 
were extended on the floor, each nursing bruises and cuts 
the evidence of which will abide with them through life. 
They had thoroughly interviewed "leather breeches" 
and definitely determined the product of that queer coun- 
try from whence the stranger had come. They each felt 
like the little barefooted boy who delivered a vicious 
kick at an old plug hat only to find that under it were 
purposely concealed three big bricks. 

Bill returned to Troy Grove on the following morning 
with his head well bandaged, wearing painful mementoes 
of his Chicago visit. While recuperating before starting 
for the West again, he received a letter from Vice-Presi- 
dent Henry Wilson, as follows : 

Washington, D. C, May 17th, 18G9. 
James B. Hickok, Esq. : 

Dear Sin : A party consisting of several gentlemen, 
ladies and myself, desire to spend a few weeks in the far 
West during the warm season, and I hope it will bo our 
fortune to secure your excellent services as our guide. I 
have heard much concerning your wonderful exploits in 
the West, and of such a character, too, as commend you 
highly for efficiency in the scoul ing service of the govern- 
ment. If it be possible for you to accompany ourparty 
as guide some time during the following month, please 
write me :il mice at Willard's Hotel, Washington, indi- 
cating wli;it compensation vouwill expect, and also from 
what point in Kansas we had best start on the torn*. I 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 107 

shall leave to you the selection of a pleasant route, as 
your general acquaintance with the places of interest be- 
tween the Missouri river and Rocky Mountains better quali- 
fies you for deciding the trip that promises the most at- 
tractions. 

Hoping to hear from you at your earliest convenience, 
I am, yours truly, 

Henry Wilson. 

On receipt of this letter Wild Bill replied at some 
length, giving Mr. Wilson a brief description of many in- 
teresting places, a visit to which it would be profitable for 
the party to make. He fixed his compensation at five 
hundred dollars for the trip indicated in his descriptions, 
and feeling sure of an acceptance of the proposition, he 
made provision for returning west. In this connection it 
is but proper that reference should be made to another 
trip Bill had made as guide to a party of officials, during 
which, however, no incidents of special interest occurred : 

In the spring of 1866 a party of government officials, 
appointed in compliance with a special act of Congress 
for the purpose, made a visit to all the Indian tribes then 
on government reservations. Wild Bill was chosen to 
guide this party, and acquitted himself so well that each 
member of the commission paid him the highest compli- 
ments. Henry M. Stanley, who has since distinguished 
himself by his African expl orations, accompanied 
the commission as a special correspondent of the New 
York Herald, and in that capacity he epitomized the life 
of Wild Bill and sent many columns of matter to his 
paper descriptive of the great scout's valor, quiet humor, 
wonderful acumen as a guide and Indian trailer, and 
above all his marvellous accuracy of aim. These stories 
possessed much interest for readers of the Herald, and 
in fact for readers generally, as tlrey were all copied by 
many other papers, and served to make the name of 



108 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Wild Bill as familiar as that of Daniel Boone and Davy 
Crockett. Harper's Magazine devoted several pages to 
a description of his adventures, a number of which were 
appropriately illustrated. But it is only necessary to pay 
a passing allusion to these facts, as the important inci- 
dents are already given more fully in the preceding 
pages. 

On the twentieth of June the Wilson party, with Bill 
as guide, left Hays City, well provided with teams, spring 
vehicles, and a well stocked commissary. The gentlemen 
in the party, with the exception of the Vice President, 
were dressed, singularly enough, in a style of garments 
peculiar to the Washington modes ; that is, tight-fitting 
pants, cut-away coats and stiff hats. Bill could not help 
making some remarks about this, to him, odd manner of 
dress, especially as he saw how inconvenient, if not un- 
comfortable, it must prove upon a journey of the char- 
acter they were about to make. Mrs. Wilson and the 
ladies had more wisely prepared themselves with easy, 
unconventional dresses, at once evidencing the fact that 
they appreciated the admiration of their escorts less than 
the comforts they desired while traveling on the plains. 
Mrs. Wilson being a woman of superior wit, and jolly 
under almost any circumstances ; in fact (he evanescent 
life of a party, on the day of their departure engaged 
Bill in an agreable conversation, and the two speedily 
became well acquainted. "Now," said she to Bill, "you 
are with an unsophisticated crowd of Yankees who know 
just as much about life on the plains as they do about 
the person who first discovered there was a man in the 
moon; there is no doubt, too, but that some of these 
younger ones are badly in love, and this only serves to 
make their simplicity more apparent. I want you, 
Mr. Hickok, to keep a protecting eye on the party, 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



109 



W 




110 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

discover their good and indifferent points if you can, 
determine which are most courageous, etc., and see that 
none of them get into trouble." 

Of course Wild Bill readily assented to this request 
from so amiable and elegant a lady ; and the party set 
out with bright prospects under his watchful guar- 
dianship, traveled over a large extent of territory, camp- 
ing at night beside cool streams, roamed through the 
canons of the Arkansas, and visited the spot on Eepub- 
lican river where the Cheyennes had perpetrated ono of 
the most terrible massacres that is recorded in Indian 
warfare. Bill interested the party in many ways, giving 
them examples of his skillful marksmanship with pistol 
and rifle, pointing out places memorable for some excit- 
ing incident, and at night regaling them with stories) of 
his life. The weather was delightful during the entire 
trip, game abundant and nothing occurred to mar the 
perfect pleasure of anyone in the social expedition. 

Nearly five weeks had slipped by before the party re- 
turned to Hays City, but the time had been so pleas- 
antly employed that there was a general regret expressed 
for the termination of the tour. 

On the day the tourists were to leave for the East the 
Vice-President had a dinner prepared at the hotel, to 
which Bill was invited, and at the conclusion of the feast 
the distinguished head of the party addressed Bill in the 
most complimentary language, referring to his reputation 
and pronouncing him one of the characters most essential 
m the settlement of the great West, where brave men 
were needed to curb the ferocious elements met with in 
all new countries ; then opening a beautiful case contain- 
ing two elegant ivory-handled pistols, ho presented it to 
Bill as a souvenir of " the most pleasant trip he (the Vice- 
President) had ever made." 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



til 



Hays City was, at this time, one of the liveliest towns 
on the frontier. It contained a population of nearly two 
thousand souls, and nearly every "soul" in it was a 
lively character. The people were essentially a sporting 




The Principal Amusement at Hays City. 

class, with a gambling den for every dozen of the males, 
and a saloon — well, the whole town was practically a 
drinking shop. Fights, murders and drunks were the 
incidents which enlivened the otherwise stupid place — 



112 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

not much stupidity about such a place, the reader will at 
once decide. But in fact, outside of the demoralizing 
deviltry of the citizens, Hays City was only a little spot 
sitting uneasily in the centre of a quiet prairie. On Sun- 
day, as well as on every other day, the voice of the keno 
caller could be heard in its monotonous cadence, as well 
also as the exclamation "O! shucks," from those whose 
numbers were all crossed — but one. Faro -had its vo- 
taries even more numerous than keno, and the street 
walker could any time hear the euphonious refrain, " I'll 
copper on the tray," or, " busted ag'in, gimme a drink." 

It was a singular civilization, that of Hays City in the 
fall of 18G9, and as every one enjoyed the sensation of 
hourly expecting a call from an enemy bent on fight, the 
population consented to have a marshal, whose services 
they expected would be that of a mutual protector, guard- 
ing one enemy from the surprises of another. 

Wild Bill being universally regarded as the very per- 
sonification of reckless courage, and therefore being ac- 
cordingly popular, was elected City Marshal of Hays 
City on the 8th of September, 18(59. He went into of- 
fice at once, and while every disorderly character consid- 
ered himself exempt from interference, he nevertheless 
expected the marshal to interfere with every other per- 
son, so that there was great satisfaction felt, and really 
salutary influences were looked forward to, in the newly 
created office. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 118 



CHAPTER IX. 



Directly after assuming his official duties Bill was 
called to perform au act which involved the destruction 
of one of the most noted desperadoes on the border, — 
Jack Strawhan, — who had started a half-dozen fresh 
graveyards in as many different places, and boasted of his 
ability to clean out Hays City and its new marshal. 

Some years before the occurrence about to be related 
took place, Capt. Kingsbury, at that time sheriff of Ells- 
worth county, had occasion to arrest Strawhan for violent 
conduct and outrages committed in the town of Ells- 
wortfc^SSBJiWM} desperado was too powerful for one man 
to handle ; besides his herculean strength he was well 
armed and quick to use his weapons. Knowing this Capt. 
Kingsbury called his deputy, named Charles Whitney, 
and also Wild Bill, who chanced to be in Ellsworth at 
the time, to his assistance. The three approached 
Strawhan in such a manner that he saw resistance would 
result in his certain death, and therefore quietly sub- 
mitted to arrest. But as there was no jail in Ellsworth 
he was tied securely for a short while until manacles 
could be provided. 

During the time of arrest Strawhan made oath by 
declaration that he would kill Wild Bill, Whitney and 
Kingsbury when the first opportunity offered, and the 
character of the man justified belief that his public threat 
would be carried into execution . 

Learning that Bill was discharging the duties of City 
Marshal at Hays City, Strawhan paid a special visit to 
that place with the avowed purpose of getting even with 
him, a warning which soon reached the ears of his in- 
tended victim. 

7 



114 .HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

On the nineteenth of October, 1869, while Bill was in 
Tommy Drum's saloon with a party of friends, his 
alert eye caught the form of Strawhan entering the 
room by a side door. As his acquaintance with the 
desperado had never extended beyond the circumstantial 
meeting in Ellsworth, Bill appeared to take no notice of 
him, though in fact the quick glances of his watch- 
ful eyes kept him duly informed of every movement his 
enemy made. Strawhan strolled up toward the bar in 
an apparently indifferent manner until within ten feet of 
Bill, when, conceiving that his opportunity had arrived, 
he jerked out a heavy navy pistol, but when in the act of 
raising it, Bill, with lightning-like quickness, drew one 
of his small derringers, and with the same movement sent 
a slug squarely into Strawhan' s left eye and through the 
brain. The shot was so instantly fatal that the man Was 
stone dead on his feet, falling forward on his face without 
even a twitch of the muscles. Without giving the slight- 
est heed to his desperate work Bill turned to the bar and 
extended the familiar invitation to all in the house : 
" Come up, boys, let's all take a drink," and it is only a 
fitting conclusion to this description of an " official exe- 
cution " to say, that none in the saloon refused. 

The body of Strawhan was " sat on" by a " crown- 
er's jury," the verdict of which was, " served him right, 
and so we declare." 

At night some of the boys got up an improvised string 
band and gave Bill a serenade in true Western style, 
which ended, as did everything else in Hays City at that 
tame, in ;i general free-for-all drunk, with a few bad 
fights by way of spice for the occasion. 

Whitney did not di i by the hands of Strawhan, but in 
1873 he became engaged in a brawl with a Texas despe- 
rado named Ben Thompson, in which he was shot to 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 115 

death. Capt. Kingsbury is still living in Kansas City, 
respected by all who know him. 

In December following the event just narrated, Hays 
City became the objective point of Bill Mulvey, a no- 
torious thug, prize fighter, cut-throat and demoralized 
character generally, whose home was in St. Joseph, Mo. 
Mulvey was a "terror" in his own neighborhood and 
had fallen into the pernicious custom of running St. Joe 
whenever his skin became thoroughly impregnated with 
whisky, which was, generally, on an average of seven 
times a week. When Mulvey reached Hays City he 
wanted only a few drinks of that tantalizing, heroizing, 
belligerent liquid peculiar to the far West, to put him in 
proper condition for carrying out his old custom in the 
new town, and he was not long in supplying the want. 

It may be proper to explain here that, while every per- 
son in Hays was a "bad crowd" on general principles, 
yet there was no single individual in the place who had 
ever assumed the responsibility of running the town, or 
believed he was equal to such an undertaking. But Bill 
Mulvey was an importation, and therefore excusable for 
arrogating to himself a capacity which no man indig- 
enous to the place thought of claiming. 

When Mulvey got up a pressure of about three hun- 
dred pounds to the square inch he moved in his old style, 
and began howling like a Dervish, swearing like a recent 
senator from Missouri, and making the town shake with 
resolutions to clean out every "son of a whale " who 
showed himself on the streets. Not satisfied with threat- 
ening, he secured a club and began a promiscuous on- 
slaught on windows, boxes, doors and everything he could 
find that was breakable. At length a constable and jus- 
tice of the peace trained their official batteries on him 
and tried to place him under arrest, but with such poor 



116 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

success that their prisoner brought up his reserve and 
with raised club ran the two dignitaries nearly a mile out 
of town. 

Things were now getting altogether too interesting for 
comfort , for Mulvey, emboldened by his successful raid on 
the two officers, took possession of the town so completely 
that wherever he went there seemed to be, judging from 
the ready obedience everyone yielded him, a perfect 
resignation to his authority. At the time these depre- 
dations were being committed Wild Bill was in another 
part of the town and did not learn of Mulvey' s dis- 
turbances until the west end was given over to his 
pleasure. Word was brought to Bill, by a little boy, 
concerning the troubles of citizens dealing with the des- 
perado, and going at once to the place of difficulty he 
soon found Mulvey, who had a pistol in each hand and 
was still yelling like a tribe of victorious Comanches. 
Approaching him in a quiet manner Wild Bill said: 

" Stranger, I shall have to arrest you for disorderly 
conduct ; come with me." 

Raising his two pistols in Bill's face Mulvey replied : 

"Well, now stranger, suppose you come with me, I 
hold the winning hand." 

"That's so," responded Bill, "I can't beat that 
pair." 

" No, I guess you can't, and since you are so fresh it 
will bo a good thing for me to hang you up till you dry. 
March I" was the command given by Mulvey. 

Before Bill turned he backed off two or three steps 
and raising his hand as if to warn Mulvey against an at- 
tack about to be made on him from the rear, said : 

" Don't hit him boys, he's only in fun." 

The strategy was perfectly successful, for Mulvey im- 
mediately turned about expecting to confront a new ad- 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 117 

versaiy, but this act was the last in his career, for Wild 
Bill secured the drop in an instant and shot Mulvey in 
the head, killing him with that rare skill for which he 
was remarkable. 

Everyone in Hays rejoiced at the result of Bill Mul- 
vey' s " big tear," and instead of holding an inquest over 
the dead body it was at once carted out to the nearest 
burying spot and slung into a hole. Wild Bill was con- 
gratulated with words full of unctious flattery and the 
citizens directly wanted to see him elevated to the highest 
pinnacle of fame, for they observed that he was civilizing 
and protecting the neighborhood. 

The duties of marshal were easy enough for several 
months after the killing of Strawhan and Mulvey. Bill 
was regarded with great popularity as a conservator of 
the peace, without specially interfering with the morale 
of the town ; his acts met with great favor because they 
were recognized as the execution of a stern but whole- 
some justice. 

During the campaigns of 1869-70 Gen. Phil. Sheridan 
had his headquarters at Ft. Hays, a station one mile west 
of Hays City. After the success of the Indian expeditions 
along the Wachita, Arickaree Fork and Canadian rivers, 
the troops returned to Ft. Hays, making a garrison for 
the time being of about two thousand soldiers. These 
enlisted men paid frequent visits to the town, and soon 
became the source of no small annoyance, as they were in 
the habit of filling up on pioneer whisky and then turn- 
ing things literally inside out. Wild Bill had arrested 
several of the more turbulent soldiers from time to time, 
which developed a bitter hatred on the part of the men 
against him. He anticipated trouble from these unreason- 
able, reckless volunteers, and was constantly prepared for 
emergencies. 



118 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

On the 12th of February, 1870, a body of soldiers 
visited Hays and began their usual orgies, which, of 
course, called for Wild Bill's interference. Among the 
disturbers of the peace was a large, double-jointed ser- 
geant from the Seventh U. S. Cavalry, who had a goodly 
reputation as a boss shoulder-striker, and his ability to 
"curry" the best man in the regiment was generally 
conceded. This fellow (whose name is not given in Bill's 
diary for the reason, perhaps, that he never learned it), on 
the day named, was in Paddy Welch's saloon smashing up 
things with an abandon which did him infinite credit as a 
desperate character. Wild Bill learned of the disturb- 
ance and was soon at his post of duty. Soldiers were 
standing around watching the hilarious occupation of 
their sergeant and evidently enjoying the privilege of 
practicing any deviltry their fancy dictated. Bill walked 
into the saloon and laid his hand on the sergeant, at the 
same time repeating his invariable command: " Stran- 
ger, I shall have to arrest you for disorderly conduct ; 
come with me." 

The sergeant, taken by surprise at what he conceived 
to be a piece of remarkable cheek and impudence, re- 
sponded : 

" How much do you weigh, Mr. Long Hair?" 

" I weigh only one hundred and sixty-five pounds," 
replied Bill, " when I'm in a good humor, but my fight- 
ing size is a fraction more than a ton ; you come along 
with me." 

"Hold on!" said the sergeant, " I'm not going with 
you just now ; but I'll tell you what I will do : I'll fight 
you a fair fight right here in front of this saloon, and if 
you lick me then I'm your meat, but if I lick you then 
you're my meat ; how do you like the proposition, eh?" 

Before Bill could reply more than a dozen soldiers sur- 



LITE OF WILD HILL 121 

rounded the two men and began shouting: "Fight, 
fight, let 'em fight," etc., so that but one of two alter- 
natives was left, either get out of the crowd like a coward, 
or fight like the brave man he was. It was therefore 
agreed that Bill and the sergeant should leave their 
weapons with Paddy Welch and engage in a fair battle to 
determine squarely their respective claims to the other' 
"meat." 

Although the sergeant was much larger, he was by no 
means a match for Bill. When the two men faced each 
other, stripped of their coats, they showed abundant 
mettle and lost no time in getting to work. The ser- 
geant led off, J3ut made such a bad miscue that his right 
eye lit heavily against Bill's fist and his nose followed 
suit countering against the kick of the marshal's second 
blow. Bill fought all round him, and in less than half 
a minute had the big sergeant down in a dreadfully de- 
moralized condition. Fourteen of the soldiers seeing 
their officer in the grip of a threshing machine with small 
chance of getting out without much assistance, ran in 
and began to club and stone Bill. Paddy Welch, realiz- 
ing the great danger of his friend, at the imminent risk 
of his own life gathered up Bill's pistols and, pushing 
through the crowd, succeeded in placing them m their 
owner's hands. Now the fun did begin with renewed in- 
terest. Bans: ! and with the discharge down went one of 
the boldest soldiers. Then the crowd shouted, "Look 
out ! he's got a pistol !" but before they got away, two 
more of their number were shot dead The remaining 
soldiers then drew their pistols and began firing with 
such accuracy that Bill was struck no less than seven 
times. He retreated firing, wounding three more of his 
antagonists, which permitted him to escape by swimming 
Smoky river. When he reached the other side. Iioav- 



122 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ever, his wounds gave him so much pain that, fairly drag- 
ging his injured body to a buffalo wallow, he secreted him- 
self therein and tore up his clothes to bandage his hurts. 
Three balls had passed through his arms, three more en- 
tered the fleshy parts of his legs, and one had penetrated 
the flesh of his left side. None of these wounds were 
serious provided they could have received proper atten- 
tion, but he was now compelled to undergo an exposure 
which not one man in a thousand, perhaps, could survive. 
While on his feet the blood had run down into his boots 
until they were nearly full ; he was, therefore, compelled 
to cut them off, especially as one of the wounds was in 
the calf of his leg which the boot top rubbed, producing 
the most violent pain. Bill lay in the wallow for two 
days, so stiffened and in such agony from his injuries 
that he could not summon up courage to attempt a 
change. The weather was very cold in the meantime, 
and from this he suffered as much as from the wounds ; 
his clothes — the few that remained on him — were frozen 
to the ground, and the bandages, now stiff from frozen 
blood, seemed to gnaw at his injuries like ingenious in- 
struments of torture. 

On the third day, half-frozen, weak from loss of blood 
and fasting, sore in every muscle, and suffering from the 
most poignant anguish, Wild Bill arose, with the 
crotcheting motion of Rip Van Winkle from twenty 
years of sleeping, and by dint of incomparable resolution 
gained his feet. But being unable to put on his boots he 
wrapped- his undershirt about his feet and struggled 
away from that bed of terrible suffering. Moving at a 
painfully slow pace he nevertheless managed to reach 
Ben Williams' ranche, five miles from Hays, and there he 
remained under the care of a kind friend for several 
days. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 123 

Knocking at the cabin door where Williams lived, his 
friend answered the summons, but, with a startled look, 
said : ' ' Why, my God ! Bill, what is the matter ? Come 
in and tell me what I can do for you." 

" Well, Ben," slowly responded Bill, " I am in a bad 
fix ; shot all to pieces and suffering worse than I did with 
them hurts I got up at Kock Creek. Didn't you hear of 
the fight up at Hays, three days ago? " 

"Yes," replied Williams, "I heard about the fight, 
but I never knew you got shot ; I am afraid, Bill, they 
will catch you here, for they are scouring the country for 
you." 

" Why, who is after me now? " eagerly enquired Bill. 

" Good gracious ! oldpard," replied Williams, " don't 
you know that Gen. Sheridan has ordered out a whole 
company with instructions to bring you in dead or alive ? ' ' 

"No," answered Bill, "is that so? Well, they can 
take me here, then, for I can't go any further ; I'm almost 
dead from pain and hunger." 

"They'll not take you if I can prevent it; I've 
got an old pallet up in the loft of this cabin, and I guess 
they'll hardly find you up there," were the assuring 
words of Williams. 

Bill was at once assisted up a ladder that stood in a 
corner of the cabin, and he there lay secreted and was 
property cared for by his friend for more than three 
weeks. 

It transpired that Bill had effected his escape from the 
soldiers without any of them supposing he was wounded, 
and after Gen. Sheridan had issued his stern order to 
capture and bring in the daring marshal " dead or alive," 
it was reasonably supposed that only a long chase would 
accomplish that result ; consequently the soldiers who 
were sent after Bill did not look for him in the immedi- 



124 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ate vicinity, and were therefore unable to execute the 
order. 

After nearly a month of hiding, under the care of Wil- 
liams, Bill had so far recovered that he left the ranche 
in the company of his friend Whitney and went to Ells- 
worth. But through fear of detection at this point, he 
left there in a box car on the Kansas Pacific road and 
went to Junction City, where he remained until his 
wounds had entirely healed. 



CHAPTER X. 



The vicinity of Hays City being decidedly insalubri- 
ous, Wild Bill, after casting about some time for a con- 
genial and remunerative occupation, at length decided 
upon a novel speculation, in the firm belief that he saw a 
fortune awaiting him in such an engagement. He rightly 
divined that Niagara Falls was a place of popular resort 
for fashionable people and that these visitors, having 
plenty of money, were willing to pay liberally for their 
amusement. Now, thought he, what could afford so 
much interest as a buffalo chase — real, shaggy, untamed 
buffaloes, with Comanche Indians to lead the sport? The 
idea did appear pregnant with large profit, and but for 
some mismanagement would, no doubt, have paid very 
handsomely. 

Having made up his mind, Bill at once determined to 
secure six fine buffalos and four Comanche Indians, and 
with this outfit he proposed to visit Niagara during the 
summer. Accordingly, in May, he set out for the buf- 
falo feeding grounds on the Republican river, intent upon 
the capture of animals for the forthcoming exhibition. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 125 

Reaching Culbertson, a small village in Nebraska, now 
the county seat of Hitchcock county, Bill employed three 
assistants and with them went southwest one hundred 
miles. Here he found a large herd of buffaloes grazing 
on the prairie a few miles north of Beaver Creek and 
made ready for the capture. 

A very laughable circumstance was connected with the 
exploit about to be related. Bill had killed scores of 
buffaloes, understood their habits and was an expert 
hunter, but he had never undertaken to capture one of 
these huge, unwieldy animals alive. After duly consid- 
ering the matter, he adopted the most ludicrous scheme 
that ever entered a man's mind. He knew that a drove 
of horses could be easily managed by tying their heads 
together, and this knowledge prompted him to use the 
same means for controlling the desired number of buf- 
falos. 

In pursuance of his resolution, he prepared a number 
of lassoes and, having everything ready, started on a 
fleet horse for the drove. By riding and driving judi- 
ciously, he soon got into the center of the herd, which 
numbered about five hundred, but with all his persever- 
ance he could not satisfactorily adjust his lassoes, on 
account of the low position in which a running buffalo 
carries his head. Seeing that little could be accomplished 
while on horseback, he decided to abandon his horse and 
ride the buffaloes, which were pressed so closely together 
that he could easily slide from one to the other. Acting 
upon this determination, he removed the bridle from his 
horse, so that the reins might not fall and become entan- 
gled in the feet of the horse or the buffaloes, and with his 
gun in one hand and lassos in the other, he jumped upon 
the nearest buffalo. But now finding his gun an encum- 
brance, he rode the buffalo while tying the gun on his 



126 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

back, and then began the adjustment of his lassoes. 
Bill presented a most comical appearance astride of a 
lumbering bull, which plunged and snorted with fright 
as though Satan himself were breaking him in. But the 
work of maintaining a proper position, while managing 
his gun and lassoes, was a truly perplexing and difficult 
task to Bill, which only one accomplished in expert horse- 
manship could possibly perform. The assistants kept 
pace behind, laughing at the rare sport now developing, 
and feeling pretty certain that the fun must continue for 
some time, as Bill had worked into the herd until they 
could see no means for escape out of the rushing ava- 
lanche, unless he could shoot an open furrow through the 
stampeded buffaloes . But he had only one gun and his pair 
of pistols, so this idea was impracticable, and with this 
reflection Bill's assistants grow suddenly grave over the 
possibility of his destruction. They therefore rode around 
the herd, shouting and shooting, with the hope of sepa- 
rating them, but Bill objected to this ; shouting through 
the dust and roar of the affrighted animals, " Keep back ; 
let 'em run, and I'll lariat the whole drove." 

After riding a buffalo thus furiously for several miles, 
and having become far removed from his horse, that was 
running with the herd, Bill concluded, since it was quite 
impossible to throw the lasso successfully, that he would 
place his lariats around the horns of at least six large 
buffaloes running abreast, and take his chances forgetting 
out from his uncomfortably close position, and securing 
his prize afterward. 

It was a comparatively easy matter for him to thus se- 
cure tho required number of animals, though the security 
extended no further than binding their heads together. 
But he reasoned rightly that the six thus tied, being 
unable to freely move their heads, would soon tire and 



LITE OF WILD BILL. 127 

become separated from the herd, a supposition which was 
soon verified. Then his assistants came up, seeing him 
ride one of the selected buffaloes, and throwing a long 
lasso the animals were soon in the grip of their captors. 
Bill's horse was easily recovered, for the moment the 
herd separated he returned to the horses ridden by Bill's 
assistants 

It was a long way back to a settlement, however, and 
a much greater distance to a railroad station. How to 
drive the buffaloes was then the conundrum. It was 
finally determined that two men should ride on each side 
of the herd with lassoes attached so as to pull the buf- 
faloes in any required direction. But the brutes proved 
unruly as a contrary pig, and ran from one side to the 
other, backward and forward, until the horses and men 
were tired out. To obtain a necessary rest, the buffaloes 
were tied to a tree and kept there for nearly two hours, 
until the horses had been fed, watered and well rested. 
During this breathing spell the idea occurred to one of 
the assistants that the buffaloes would drive much better 
if they were hobbled. " Well," said Bill, when the sug- 
gestion was made, "it is singular I hadn't thought of 
that before ; suppose you prepare some hobbles and put 
them on.'' 

But he was not so much surprised at the suggestion as 
he sought to make his assistants believe, for it was the 
hope that some of his men would try the experiment that 
prompted him to reply in the manner he did. 

One of the men was a herder and understood hobbling 
a steer or mule, but it is, nevertheless, certain that he did 
not know anything about hobbling buffaloes — until after 
his first experience. Having everything prepared he 
approached one of the animals which, though its head 
was fast, had the free use of its hind quarters. Just as 



128 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

the cow-boy was in the act of slipping the noose around 
the buffalo's fore-leg the brute whirled its quarters 
and planted its hind foot on the shoulder of the aston- 
ished hobbler. Did you ever see a professional tumbler 
turn backward handsprings around a circus ring, observ- 
ing how rapidly he revolved ? That cow-bow resembled 
an expert tumbler for all the world. He just literally 
got up and spun through the air, as though he had been 
reeled off a spinning-wheel by a country maid. And 
when he lit there stood the buffalo about fifteen feet 
away looking as demure and melancholy as though he had 
lost his hind leg more than a week before. These men 
never laughed more heartily nor did one ever feel so 
grieviously humbled as was that quartette of buffalo 
catchers. The animals were not hobbled. 

After two weeks of the most tedious work the six buf- 
faloes were brought to Ogallala, and from thence over 
the Union Pacific to Omaha, where they were kept until 
Bill could conclude arrangements with the necessary 
number of Comanche Indians, of southern Indian Terri- 
tory. Four excellent specimens of that tribe were 
secured, one of whom had a cinnamon bear and another 
a large monkey ; as these two animals were deemed 
curiosities which might be advantageously used in the 
Niagara entertainment, they were also engaged, and the 
menagerie moved from Omaha for Niagara Falls on the 
twenty-second of June. 

After reaching his destination Wild Bill set about con- 
eluding arrangements for the entertainment. A large lot 
of ground was secured on the Canadian shore and a suit- 
able enclosure erected. During the time these prepara- 
tions were being made the Indians exhibited their beat 
and monkey, deriving considerable profit therefrom. 

The chase being duly advertised for the 20th of July, 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



129 



an immense crowd of people assembled to witness the 
novel sight. As the enclosure was necessarily very large, 
Bill did not deem it advisable to build a high board fence 
to obstruct an outside view, thinking that the people who 
were interested in the exhibition would contribute quite 
as liberally if he passed his hat around among them. 




The Aboriginal Part of the Outfit. 

The buffaloes were brought out in cages and at the 
appointed time were turned loose, with the Indians, who 
were decked in war paint, leather breeches and eagle 
feathers, in full pursuit, mounted on ponies. Several 
gentlemen, visitors at the Falls, having provided them- 



130 HEROES OE THE PLAINS. 

selves with horses, also entered the chase, and a hundred 
yelping pet curs and poodles lent their assistance to make 
the occasion excitingly interesting. The Indians, yelling 
as only Comanches can, chased the affrighted buffaloes 
round and round the enclosure, showing at the same time 
their superb horsemanship, by executing the most difficult 
feats, to the great delight of the crowd. During the 
chase Bill moved among the spectators with his big som- 
brero extended, giving every one a chance to contribute. 
But after filing and pushing through the assemblage of 
nearly five thousand people, he emerged with the pro- 
ceeds of his expensive exhibition, and found that the en- 
tire contribution amounted to just $123.86 ; the expenses 
at the same time were $1,279.30, leaving a balance sheet 
showing a loss of more than $1,000. 

When the Indians had returned again with the recap- 
tured buffaloes, Bill was confronted with a bill of 
expenses — novel but importunate. During the excite- 
ment the bear had been left muzzled and tied to a stake, and 
the monkey in his cage. Of course these curiosities had 
their votaries, and some one, in a spirit of mischief, had 
removed the muzzle and unloosed the bear, hoping to get 
up a counter attraction in the meantime. The mischievous 
fellow, whoever he was, did not suffer a disappointment. 
There was a heavy bearded Italian in the crowd selling 
Vienna sausages, and another dressed in sailor's garb 
stood on a box singing songs, for which he expected a 
small consideration. "When the peddler came up uear the 
bear the smell of fresh sausage was too much for the 
hungry animal to forego investigating, and being loose, 
ho turned quickly on the Italian with the intention of 
capturing the savory meats. The poor fellow, frightened 
to the limit of his senses, let go his platter and tried to 
run, but the bear grabbed him in its large paws and tore 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



131 



his checked overshirt into shreds, though giving his body 
only a few scratches. Some of the bystanders rushed to 
the rescue, and one bolder than the rest seized the bear 






■.: ": 



i^Wmfm. 



' ,'.' 



mil 




The Bear and the Sausages. 

in his arms and held it fust until the sausage man recov- 
ered the full use of his heels. Having been raised from 
a small cub by its Indian owner, the bear developed no 



132 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

dangerous qualities and was tied again without difficulty. 

When Bill came in he was told of the side-show which 
had opened doors during the chase, and the trembling 
Italian greeted him with a demand for damages. After 
some parleying Bill purchased a new shirt for the irate 
but still badly scared fellow and then exhausted his de- 
tective ability in an effort to discover who unloosed the 
bear — but he failed signally. 

The pecuniary failure of the buffalo chase now brought 
with it many troubles for Bill. He had not only spent 
every cent he could raise inaugurating the enterprise, but- 
still owed sundry bills for hotel accommodations, care 
for his animals and entertainment for the Indians. He 
was hopelessly "busted," and just there, as if to add 
insult to his other mortifications, a dapper Englishman, 
wearing a single eye-glass, sauntered up to him and su- 
perciliously accosted him with : 

" See 'ere, my friend, h'are you h'an Indian h'or a 
white man?" 

In a perfect frenzy Bill struck the impudent foreigner 
a blow in the glass eye that sent him plowing up the 
ground ten feet away, following tho blow with the re- 
mark : 

" That's the kind of a man I am ; do you want to ex- 
tend the acquaintance any further?" 

It is only proper to state, in order to satisfy the cu- 
riosity of the reader, that the Englishman manifested no 
disposition to become better acquainted, as the intimacy 
had already been disagreeably close. 

Being unable to satisfy any of the demands made 
against him, Bill was left no other recourse than that of 
transferring the ownershipof his buffaloes. The Indians 
were compelled to part company with their bear and 
monkey. "With the balance left them, after paying all 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 133 

bills, they were enabled to accompany Bill back to Kan- 
sas, and return to their reservation. The pleasure of the 
trip, which had enabled them to see so much of the white 
man's civilization, seemed to fully satisfy them for their 
services, for they made no demand on their employer for 
compensation. 

When Wild Bill reached Kansas he found, to his de- 
light, that Gen. Sheridan and the Seventh U. S. Cavalry 
had left Hays City, and he was, therefore, relieved of 
any apprehensions regarding his personal safety in that 
section of country. It was his intention, after learning 
this fact, to resume his duties at Hays, provided he 
could again secure the office of marshal ; but, stopping 
at Abilene a few days to see some friends, he was sur- 
prised by an offer to make him marshal of that place. 
As the salary was entirely satisfactory Bill concluded to 
accept the position, especially since adverse circumstances 
had entirely exhausted his exchequer and immediate oc- 
cupation was therefore essentially necessary. 

When Bill became the custodian of the peace at Hays 
City he found a town just about as full of iniquity as he 
thought it possible to discover on the continent ; but 
while Hays was only comfortably full of the Devil's emis- 
saries, Abilene was running over and bursting out at the 
side with the very double distilled essence of depravity. 
The town, with less than one thousand permanent resi- 
dents, was filled with so much vileness that the very at- 
mosphere appeared impregnated with the odor of abomi- 
nation ; murder ran riot, drunkenness was the rule, gam- 
bling a universal pastime, fighting a recreation, and the 
mischief to pay generally the engrossing occupation. 

There was one chief reason why Abilene reveled in 
greater wickedness than any other Kansas town, and her 
citizens are in a measure excusable because they were 



134 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



helpless. The place was one of much importance, owing 
to the fact that it had become the central shipping point 
for the cattle raised in Texas, New Mexico and Indian 
Territory. Every day great herds of cattle were driven 
in, and accompanying the herds were scores of reckless 
cow-boys and owners, who regarded nothing with so much 




favor as the meanest brands of lighting whisky. After 
filling the pens these men invariably traveled to some 
saloon, on as straight a line as the honey-laden bee, and 
like a dry fish thrown back into its element, they absorbed 
vitriol-adulterated liquids until some desperate act was 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 135 

almost certain to conclude the spree. The large cattle 
transactions at the pens made money abundant at Abilene, 
and as money is the root of all evil, every one in the place 
managed to secure a large portion of the root. Gambling 
followed as a consequence, and, preserving the natural 
sequence, shooting and stabbing became of daily occur- 
rence. 

This was the condition of society in Abilene when 
Wild Bill received his commission and began to carry a 
club as the insignia of his office. Of course there was 
much in his favor, for, though rhapsodizing sentimental- 
ists may enquire, "What's in a name?" it was very ap- 
parent that in the name of Wild Bill many bullies intui- 
tively saw a grim harbinger of their fate if their carnival 
of crime remained unchecked. 

Among the most desperate men on the border, who had 
killed several men and "stampeded" nearly all the West- 
ern towns, was a small, black-eyed, professional gambler, 
named Phil Cole. He had no regular abiding place, but 
striking Abilene he found that town so well suited to his 
calling and disposition that, to use a Western phrase, 
"he got his washing done in that hole" for several 
months. 

Within two days after Bill's appointment as marshal, 
Phil Cole, in company with another desperado named 
Jack Harvey, got on one of his accustomed tears, and 
regardless of the new officer, he began his usual indis- 
criminate destruction of property, smashing windows, 
kicking in doors, insulting women, firing his pistol, and 
sundry other malicious acts which demanded Bill's inter- 
ference. Jack Harvey was a companion of Cole in all 
these villainous proceedings and the two were permitted 
the free exercise of their devilish proclivities until Bill, 
in company with his deputy, Jim Mc Williams, put in an 



136 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



objection. Mc Williams was well acquainted with Cole 
and knew that some one would get badly hurt unless the 
gambler could be pacified. Approaching him in a 
friendly spirit he tried to induce Cole to give up his pis- 
tols, but in doing this Bill, standing off a few feet, 
ordered the gambler to surrender. This order only 
served to precipitate the conflict, for Cole immediately 




Wild Bill Accidentally Kills a Friend. 

fired at Bill, but as McWilliams had hold of his arm the 

shot proved ineffectual. Bill now drew his own pistol 
and lived at Cole, but at the same instant the gambler in 
wrestling with McWilliams threw him in front in such 
manner that the faithful deputy received the bullet in his 
heart and fell over dead. Cole now again raised his pis- 
tol, but ere he pulled the trigger a shot from Bill's 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 137 

weapon penetrated the gambler's brain, marking him for 
the second victim. Up to this time Jack Harvey had re- 
mained a mute spectator of the tragic proceedings, but 
seeing his partner in the agonies of death he pulled his 
pistol and fired at Bill, the ball passing through his hat 
and cutting off a lock of hair. But this proved Harvey's 
last shot; he had falsely reckoned, and for it paid the 
usual penalty. The smoke had hardly swept out of the 
muzzle of his weapon when the deadly aim of Wild Bill 
accomplished its work. Poor Jack, a good fellow under 
ordinary circumstances, forfeited his right to Bill's clem- 
ency and when he went down there was a bullet-hole 
through his heart. 

No act of Bill's whole life ever caused him such an- 
guish of mind, such poignant grief, as the accidental 
killing of Mc Williams. The two had been old friends — 
bosom friends in fact — and that his death should come 
in such a manner was abundant reason for the inex- 
pressible sorrow Bill felt. Years afterward tears would 
start instantly in Bill's eyes at the mention or remem- 
brance of his friend's death. 

The killing of Cole was regarded by the community as 
a " Christian act," because it was like ridding the coun- 
try of a ferocious and destructive beast ; but to make the 
act yet more righteous Bill raised the necessary money 
with which to give his victims decent burial. 

On one occasion, during a visit of Wild Bill to Hays 
City, after assuming the conservatorship of Abilene' s 
peace, he met with an adventure which has in it all the 
elements of an anecdote. At the time referred to it 
chanced that a professional pugilist named Patterson, 
from New York, had become a Hays City transient and 
had organized a school for training the combatively dis- 
posed people of that town in the art of pugilism. He 



138 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

had several ambitious scholars who made such progress 
that the Professor decided to give an entertaiment in the 
place and thus demonstrate the results of his instructions. 
Among those in attendance — and the whole population 
was present — to witness the miniature arenic bouts on 
the improvised stage was Wild Bill, drawn thither by a 
natural curiosity. 

The novel entertainment proved a grand success ; so 
much in fact that several new scholars were enrolled for 
the succeeding term. After the exhibition had concluded, 
the Professor took a stroll down town — which means that 
he paid a visit to the most popular saloon for a " night 
cap " before retiring. In the saloon he found the usual 
crowd, and of course a conversation was at once started 
on pugilism and the qualifications of noted "Western char- 
acters. Wild Bill was mentioned as being the handiest 
man out West, a good shooter, skillful fighter, and brave 
to rashness. In reply to the panegyrics offered by the 
crowd on Bill, the Professor said : 

" Now, look here, 'I've heard a great deal about this 
man Wild Bill ; I would like very much to meet him, and 
if he's got the pluck to stand before me I'll 'show you 
how r little he knows about the manly art." 

One of the party responded : "If you would like to see 
him, just look over toward that corner (pointing to Bill) ; 
that man wearing a sombrero an<f drinking with Buffalo 
Bill is the person you want." 

"Good enough," answered the Professor, and step- 
ping to Bill he touched our hero on the shoulder and 
addressed him : 

"I understand that your name is Wild Bill, and that 
you carry around in your clothes the reputation of being 
the boss lighter in the West." 

"Where did you get your information?" responded 
Bill. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 139 

" Why, all the boys declare you have got away with 
every one that has tackled you yet. But I want to say 
that while I am in this country I am boss ; that's my 
business, and I'm ready to demonstrate my claims." 

"Well," said Bill (drawing two pistols), "I'll just 
shoot a hole through each of your ears, so that we'll all 
know you hereafter ; the boss ought to carry his private 
mark." 

"Hold on, hold on," said the Professor, "I don't 
mean that I'm a pistol fighter; I'll grant you the de- 
served reputation as the best pistol shot on the plains ; 
but I can prove my claim as the best man on the muscle, 
and if you doubt my ability drop your pistols and shie 
your castor." 

The bantering tone of the Professor made Bill mad as 
a wounded catamount, and giving his weapons to Buffalo 
Bill he sailed into the pugilist like a red-hot ball from a 
columbiad. For several minutes the furniture in the 
room flew about, mixing with legs and arms, while the 
boys stood around deeply interested in the fight. Tim 
Finnegan's wake was like a candy-pulling compared with 
the music of this memorable battle, for it developed into 
a veritable cyclone of furious laughter. 

Is it necessary to tell the reader that Wild Bill was 
victorious? Of course not, for if he had been as badly 
whipped as the Professor was no mention would have 
been made of this encounter. The fact is, the Professor 
was so outrageously threshed — like the game cock of many 
victories, who, after one bad defeat, never plumes his 
feathers with the oil of courage again — that it spoiled all 
the reputation on which he had so successfully traveled ; 
the proper thing he realized was to indefinitely postpone 
the ensuing school session and search for new fields, which, 
let us hope, he found more fruitful for his purposes. 



140 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



CHAPTER XI. 

TnEEE was comparative peace in Abilene, after the 
Cole triple tragedy, until the holidays, when another 
fight occurred in which there were several seriously dam- 
aged skulls, but no deaths. On the 2Gth of December, 
1870, a dozen Texan cattle men concluded to take the 
municipality by storm, as it were, and their preparatory 
arrangements, as a matter of course, consisted of an 
ample filling up with Abilene whisky. Among this num- 
ber of " thoroughbreds," as they styled themselves, was 
the owner of one of the largest ranches in the Lone Star 
State. His name is withheld for obvious reasons, as he 
is still living, and a publication of the incidents about to 
be recorded, together with his real name and the impious 
part he subsequently played, would, certainly, be followed 
by legal perplexities. These interferences would not be 
regarded but for the fact that the necessary witnesses 
would be hard to find if indeed they could be at all. 
But the facts will not be departed from one jot or tittle, 
and in order to preserve the identity of this individual* ho 
will be called " Assassin Bledsoe." 

This bloody-minded twelve began their carousals by 
breaking into a harness shop, brutally beating the pro- 
prietor and stealing a number of bull-whips. With these 
the}'' sallied out and attacked everyone they could meet 
on the street, cutting right and left, administering the 
severest punishment on several individuals and defying 
the authority of the entire town. None of them display- 
ing any weapons, this fact led Wild Bill to believe that 
the unruly crowd might be controlled without bloodshed. 
He therefore called a few citizens to his assistance and 
undertook the difficult job of arresting the drunken party. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 141 

By chance Bill first accosted Assassin Bledsoe in his 
usual manner, using mild but pointed language. Instead 
of obeying the injunction, "Come with me," Bledsoe 
curled the bull-whip he carried over his head and strik- 
ing Bill on the arm, it cracked with a pistol-like report. 
The whip-stroke cut almost like a knife, and the pain it 
produced was just enough to make Bill feel like killing 
some one, especially Bledsoe. Kaising his club he dashed 
at the Texan and delivered a blow that laid open the skin 
on Bledsoe's head for a length of three inches. This 
precipitated a general fight in which the citizens who 
were deputized and the Texan crowd mixed indiscrimi- 
nately. Clubs and stones were the only weapons used, 
but in the hands of infuriated men these were very dan- 
gerous and the result was something terrible enough for 
the most morbid appetite. Blood was streaming from 
numerous heads, arms were broken, bodies frightfully 
bruised and demoralization was pictured on every par- 
ticipant. Bill w r as the central figure in the fight, for be- 
ing regarded as a kind of standard bearer the Texans 
were anxious to take his colors. But he displayed the 
cool intrepidity which had made his name so celebrated, 
and though struck hard with stones, he kept his feet and 
wielded a club like Hercules before the Hydra. The 
deputies being reinforced by a number of other citizens, 
at length closed the battle with acknowledged victory. 
The wounded were carried to the nearest houses and nec- 
essary surgical attention given them. The most serious 
injury was that received by Assassin Bledsoe, who was 
compelled to keep his bed for nearly two weeks, and the 
greatest care was required to prevent inflammation of the 
brain, from which he would have certainly died. 

During this period of dangerous illness, Bledsoe de- 
clared to his attendants, under oath, with uplifted hand in 



142 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

attestation of his determination, that if life were spared 
him he would have Wild Bill's heart. When this threat 
of vengeance was conveyed to Bill he gave it no special 
concern, as perhaps a hundred others had vowed to 
satisfy the same revenge ; it was only another admonition 
for him to be always on the alert and watchful against 
the strategies of his enemies. 

After Assassin Bledsoe had fully recovered from his 
wound he returned directly to his home in Texas and 
conceived one of the most dastardly, cowardly and vil- 
lainous purposes ever brought forth by a naturally 
infernal mind. Being well acquainted with all the miser- 
able, sneaking characters of his neighborhood, some of 
whom were dependent, upon him for employment ; men 
whose desires and ambitions never rose above a full 
whisky bottle, and to whose plastic natures a trifling 
consideration was sufficient for killing any man from a 
covert by the highway. Knowing, as he did, eight such 
persons specially qualified for his designs, Bledsoe sent 
for them and contrived a meeting in an old barn which 
stood some distance from his house. These eight mon- 
sters of iniquity met their cowardly employer as per 
agreement, and that the design might lose none of its 
black hideousness the meeting took place under the cover 
of darkness. A jug of whisky played the part of a 
needful accessory, and when its influence became per- 
ceptible Bledsoe disclosed his purpose. With what 
words he addressed his coterie of criminals no one knows 
but themselves, but it is definitely known that Bledsoe 
acquainted these men with his desire to possess the heart 
of Wild Bill, and that he therefore offered them the sum 
of $5,000 in gold if they would kill him and take out his 
heart as an evidence that the deed had been consumma- 
ted. He first bound them bv a terrible oath not to 



LIFE OF WILL) BILL. 143 

divulge a word of the compact about to be made nor of 
anything connected with the meeting in the barn. The 
terms of this desperate contract were that, under no cir- 
cumstances, was his name to be discovered to anyone as 
the employer of their services for this dark deed ; that 
the sum of $50 should be given to each man to pay ex- 
penses of the trip to Abilene, and that in addition to this 
money $5,000 in gold was to be divided equally between 
them on the day that Wild Bill's heart should be de- 
livered to Bledsoe, and that the place of meeting for the 
completion of the contract should be at the old barn. 

To all these articles of the agreement the eight villains 
readily assented, and being at once provided with money 
for the trip, on the second day thereafter they started for 
Abilene. Reaching that town, instead of waylaying Bill, 
as Bledsoe expected, the impious crowd of hired assassins, 
never having had so much money at one time before dur- 
ing their existence, could not resist the temptation of so 
many saloons, and gave way at once to the cravings of 
their unnatural appetites ; as a consequence they drank 
until every one became hilariously drunk. While in this 
condition one of the men disclosed (though in disjointed 
sentences) the object of their visit to Abilene. A friend 
of Bill's hearing the asseverations of the drunken assas- 
sin plied him with such questions as brought out the en- 
tire scheme for the murder ; and being satisfied that the 
plan had been truthfully revealed, though by an irre- 
sponsibly drunken fellow, he lost no time in acquainting 
Bill with the purposes of the eight men. 

Bill received the information with thanks, but exhibited 
no uneasiness. He instructed his friend to return to the 
crowd and by some means which would not excite suspi- 
cion, inform them that he (Wild Bill) was going down to 
Topeka on the nine o'clock express. This information 



144 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

the friend duly imparted to the Texans, at the same time 
dropping several hints that his pistols had become useless 
and he was going to Topeka for the purpose of purchasing 
anew pair. 

This little piece of clever strategy worked with such 
great s access that their discomfiture was complete. Bill 
became a passenger on the east bound express train, and 
chuckled as he saw the hired murderers take the coach 
next the baggage car. Their idea was that Bill could be 
readily influenced to pass from one car to the other upon 
an invitation to join them in a game of cards, or a pre- 
tended acquaintance, and while on the platform it was 
arranged that he should be stabbed and thrown from the 
car. If this very choice scheme had not miscarried, the 
band of assassins could have left the train at the first sta- 
tion and walking back to their victim cut out his heart 
without there being a witness to their consummate villainy. 

But the scheme did not work. About an hour after 
the train left Abilene, or shortly after ten o'clock at 
night, Bill concluded that now was the time for him to 
act, as most of the passengers would be asleep. Know- 
ing about where his would-be murderers sat, Bill walked 
through the car, opened the door and drew his two ivory- 
handled pistols. Reaching the door of the car in which 
the eight sat, he peeped through a moment to discover 
their exact positions ; he then threw open the door and 
walked quickly up the passageway. In another moment 
the assassins saw him, and as they also saw a large pistol 
in each hand, their impious hearts fluttered with the fear 
which immediately possessed them. Bill drew his wea- 
pons so as to cover the band, and then in a voice which 
indicated his resolution, he said: 

" Now, you infernal scoundrels, get out of this ear in- 
stantly or I'll make buzzard food of your carcasses. Get 



LITE OF WILD BILL. 145 

out, and off this train or I'll kill you as I would a pack 
of cowardly wolves. If it wasn't for disturbing the pas- 
sengers I'd kill you in the car, but I'm going to either 
make you jump off this train or I'll shoot you off." 

While addressing them in this threatening manner, he 
drove the men before him, and as they believed he 
would shoot anyhow, the entire eight stampeded in their 
efforts to get out of the car, and when the platform was 
reached they leaped off into the cut through which the 
train was running at a speed of thirty miles an hour. In 
the fall one of the villains was killed and three others so 
seriously hurt that they had to be carried off by their 
comrades. This ended the efforts made by Assassin 
Bledsoe to secure Wild Bill's heart, notwithstanding his 
desperate oath ; neither did he have the gratification of 
attending his enemy's funeral ; in fact, after this, he 
lived for nearly six years in constant dread lest Bill should 
find and kill him. 

On Bill's return from Topeka, after this novel adven- 
ture with eight cowardly villains, he stopped two days at 
Ellsworth for the purpose of visiting a somewhat noted 
beauty of that place, named Emma Williams, whose 
charms had made an impression on the softer portion of 
"his heart. 

Visiting this gay siren of fatal beauty at the same time 
was a big bully named Bill Thompson, and thus the two 
Bills met under circumstances especially favorable for the 
excitement of a fresh killing. Added to this jealous ri- 
valry, Thompson was moved by a spirit of revenge for 
having suffered arrest at the hands of Wild Bill nearly a 
year previously. Miss Williams, fiuding two dangerous 
lovers at her shrine, and both equally importunate for her 
favors, was compelled to choose between them. Fortu- 
nately for Bill, his handsome face and physique secured 



146 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

the coveted favor, while the coarse, uncouth, brutal 
physiognomy of Thompson was relegated to the realms 
of woman's rejection. This decision could but culminate 
in a tragedy, for, as is usual with men of the base charac- 
teristics which distinguished Thompson, they almost in- 
variably resort to foul means when fair efforts are un- 
availing to accomplish their object. 

At the dinner hour, on the 17th day of February, 1871, 
Wild Bill entered a restaurant in Ellsworth and called for 
an oyster stew ; the tables of the restaurant were situated 
between small partitions, as are still frequently noticed 
in country ice-cream saloons in the West. He thought- 
lessly took a seat with his back to the door, a position, it 
is but proper to say, he never afterward assumed. As the 
waiter returned, bearing the stew in a bowl on a platter, 
Bill saw him exhibit a sudden fright, and turning quickly 
in his seat discovered Thompson approaching and almost 
in the very act of tiring on him. Sliding out of his chair 
with the celerity of a flash, the movement was executed 
with such rare fortune that the bull from Thompson's 
pistol struck the dinner plate on the table before Bill, 
shattering it into a hundred pieces. But ere the jealous 
desperado could tire again Bill had jerked a small der- 
ringer from his breeches pocket and sent a slug squarely 
into Thompson's forehead. His plot to kill Bill had only 
turned upon himself. 

The waiter's fright at this sudden and tragic meeting 
<,f the rivals was so great that soup, bowl and platter fell 
from his nerveless grasp, rattling in fragments on the 
floor, adding, by the noise, much to the general confu- 
sion which ensued. Bill coolly resumed his position at 
the table and ordered the trembling waiter to bring him 
the stew, giving no heed to the unconscious victim on the 
floor; but the waiter showed no such indifference, stand- 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 147 

iii£ in dumb astonishment and fright until the restaurant 
filled with the curious of the village. Being unable to 
obtain the desired stew, Bill coolly arose, filed through 
the morbid crowd and hunted up another restaurant, 
where he feasted according to his pleasure. His arrest 
followed soon after, but at the preliminary hearing a 
clear case of "justifiable homicide" was established, so 
that his detention was not for more than two hours, and 
at night he returned to Abilene. 

In June, 1871, Wild Bill was appointed U. S. Marshal 
at Hays City, or was rather reappointed, for he first 
served in that position a short time during 1869 ; but as 
nothing of special importance transpired worthy of record 
among his spirited adventures during that period, the fact 
was not mentioned in chronological sequence. 

Two months after entering, for the second time, upon 
the discharge of his duty circumstances required his going 
to Wichita, Kansas, where he expected to arrest an of- 
fender who, it was reported, was infesting that town. 
There being no stage nor rail route to Wichita, Bill was 
compelled to make the trip on horseback, a style of travel- 
ing, however, well suited to his disposition and preference. 

Upon arriving at Wichita, being wholly unacquaint- 
ed in the place, he directed his course to a saloon, before 
the door of which he alighted and tied his horse. Enter- 
ing the saloon, he was somewhat surprised to find it con- 
tained not a single soul — the proprietor, even, having 
absented himself from the business for the time being. 
However, desiring to rest himself and possibly obtain 
some essential information concerning the offender of 
whom he was in search, Bill sat down and commenced 
reading a newspaper in order to pass the time until the 
proprietor should return. While he was thus engaged 
his attention was attracted by a horseman who was just 



148 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

dismounting preparatory to entering the saloon. Bill 
looked up from his paper as the stranger stepped upon 
the threshold, for he supposed the man to be some ac- 
quaintance of the neighborhood, and passed the usual 
salutation : " Howd'ye." 

"How are you?" returned the stranger; "is your 
name Wild Bill?" 

"That is what I'm generally called," replied Bill. 

"Take that, then," said the stranger, accompanying 
the words with the instant production of a pistol which 
he fired so close in Bill's face that the skin was scorch- 
ed. The bullet, by rare good fortune, only struck his 
scalp, cutting a furrow more than three inches in length 
and grazing the skull. It was a desperately close call, 
but another fortunate circumstance was in the fact that 
Bill was so badly stunned by the shot that he fell to the 
floor as if stricken dead. The stranger, thinking that he 
had secured his victim beyond a doubt, did not deem it 
necessary to fire another shot into his body, but feeling 
concerned for his own safety speedily mounted his horse 
and rode swif tly away to the south. 

In a moment after the shot was fired the saloon pro- 
prietor returned, and seeing Bill lying on the floor in a 
dazed condition, quickly dashed a cup of water in his face ; 
then attempted to examine the wpund, which was bleed- 
ing profusely. But Bill soon rallied, and gaining con- 
sciousness he eagerly inquired for the stranger. Finding 
that his assailant had fled, he refused all offers of sunn- 
eal attention, and with the blood streaming down his 
face, saturating his clothes and rendering his appearance 
gory in the extreme, he gave pursuit, first learning the 
direction taken by the would-be murderer. Being well 
mounted he gave rapid chase, though his horse »\'as well 
spent by the trip just made. The stranger, after riding 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 149 

with much speed for several miles, reined up, thinking 
pursuit would hardly be given soon by any officer, and 
least of all by the person who he felt sure was dead. 
But the pursuer pushed rapidly on, and soon came 
in sight of his man, who permitted him to approach 
within a few hundred yards before discovering that it was 
Wild Bill leading a chase. Notwithstanding his horse 
was nearly exhausted, he urged him to his best efforts, 
while the pursuit and flight developed into a furious ride, 
one for life, the other for vengeance. Finding that it 
was impossible to overtake the stranger, Bill had recourse 
to his weapons, and firing as he rode soon disabled the 
assassin's horse and directly afterward shot the man 
through the back, producing a slow and terribly painful 
death. To make his revenge more complete, Bill raised 
the head of his dying victim and with the long, keen 
bowie he carried cut from the stranger's scalp a strip of 
hair and flesh such as he considered would correspond with 
the portion extirpated from his own. With this ghastly 
trophy he returned to Wichita and there had his own 
wound properly attended to. 

Subsequently Bill learned that his unknown assailant 
was a cousin of Phil Cole — also a noted gambler, — who 
had made many threats to avenge his kinsman's death, 
and had sought for opportunities to execute his purpose, 
only to find at last that in seeking revenge he had become 
the victim of a more fatal vengeance. 

As a reminder of this bloody adventure Bill carried 
the piece of scalp cut from his victim's head tor many 
years. His brother, in communicating with the writer, 
stated that Bill kept this ghastly memento in his pocket- 
book until it became as hard as a piece of dried buff ale 
hide, and it is possible, if not indeed probable, that he 
kept it until death divided his possessions* 



150 HEROES OF TIIE PLALNS. 



CHAPTER XII. 



In August folio wing Wild Bill's return from Wichita 
an incident occurred which resulted, some years after- 
ward, in his renouncing his previous declarations to re- 
main a bachelor, and the taking unto himself of a wife. 
The circumstances which culminated in so great a change 
were romantically singular and are well worthy of record 
in these otherwise sanguinary chronicles of stirring ad- 
ventures. 

The incident referred to grew out of the exhibition of 
Lake's Circus in Hays City during August, 1871. It 
was a rare occasion to see a circus so far West at that 
time, owing to the sparsely settled condition of middle 
and western Kansas, and when the caravan began to pitch 
tents preparatory for exhibition not only the citizens of 
Hays betrayed great curiosity, but every one within a 
radius of more than twenty miles came into town, by a 
variety of conveyances, to see the show. 

Lake's Circus had been a standard entertainment for 
many years in the East and South, and in addition to the 
excellent reputation it bore it was well advertised by a 
novel free exhibition which became the rage even in the 
East — a grand balloon ascension just before opening the 
doors. The town council, like every one else in the 
neighborhood, though anxious to see the performance, 
held a meeting on the day preceding the time fixed for 
exhibition, and decided to charge Mrs. Lake, the pro- 
prietor of the circus, a license fee of fifty dollars ; but 
before the municipal body adjourned Wild Bill stepped 
up and asked to be heard a moment. Permission having 
been granted, the town eouncilmen lit their pipes, passed 
the bottle, and leaning back in their chairs posed them- 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 151 

selves while Bill expressed himself substantially as fol- 
lows : 

" I never made a speech in my life and I don't want 
to begin now, but I never went back on a woman, and 
I'm going to give you some plain talk. You fellows 
live so far outside of civilization that your hearts have 
dried up like small potatoes left out in the sun, and as 
you can't read the papers of course you don't know 
nothing about what's going on east of the coyote's 
range. 

' ' This circus that' s advertised to show and furnish a 
little amusement for us heathens is owned by a woman, 
one whose pluck catches my sympathy every time. Her 
husband, Bill Lake, one of the best clowns that ever sung 
a jolly song, was murdered down inGranby, Missouri, by 
a cowardly villain, named Jake Killian, on the 24th of 
August, 1869. The bravelittle widow, after burying her 
husband, had to either sellout or go on the road with the 
circus, and circumstances advised her to carry the show. 
My opinion is that any woman capable to run a circus is a 
darned sight bigger curiosity in these parts than the 
leather heads of this village ever heard of, and when I see 
so much pluck shown by a little woman I just feel like 
throwing in and helping her. 

"Now, if you fellows that run this town knowed how 
to appreciate a good thing for the place, instead of charg- 
ing Mrs. Lake a license, you would vote an appropri- 
ation to pay her for coining out here to show us 
heathens a first-class circus. If I've got any author- 
ity in Hays, Mrs. Lake ain't going to pay this town 
a cent of license for showing, and if any man attempts to 
stop the show then just put it down that he's got me to 
fight. That's all I've got to say now, so drive on and 
we'll see who pays the fiddler." 



152 HEROES OF TITE PLAINS. 

When Bill concluded his < ' talk ' ' the council of four 
decided to reconsider their action and remit the license, 
though this was, in the eyes of some, an extraordinary 
opportunity for starting a town treasury. 

Mrs. Lake, learning of Bill's disinterested kindness, 
sent for him and expressed many thanks, after which she 
introduced him to all the members of her troupe, includ- 
ing her little daughter, Emma. After seeing the para- 
phernalia of the circus and shaking hands with the per- 
formers, Bill turned again to Mrs. Lake and said : 

" Well, now, all this is fine enough, but do }^ou know 
the greatest curiosity about this canvas is yourself ; I 
never saw a woman bef ore that could run anything, except 
with a broom handle, and to find one managing a big cir- 
cus like this is a bigger sight than California Joe when he 
was tackled by a panther down in the Wachitas. I used 
to think that women never amounted to much outside of 
being mothers, and I guess I wouldn't give them that 
much credit if it hadn't happened that I had a mother 
myself, and a good one, too. But I've changed my opin- 
ion now, for if I could hitch up with such a business girl 
as yourself I'd go in search of the parson to-morrow." 

This language, though full of rather profane meta- 
phors and tempered with phrases little suited for " lute- 
like lovers' lips," nevertheless expressed in homely truths 
Bill's real sentiments, for he fell in love with Mrs. Lake, 
not only on first sight, but even before the meeting ; ho 
was caught on the hook of her reputation. 

Mrs. Lake, though not fully undersl andingthe somewhat 
incoherent address of her determined suitor, yet saw be- 
neath his rough exterior a kind and healing sympathy, and 
a heart ever brave and willing to protect the weak. His 
face and form, too, were strikingly handsome, while his 
dress was that of a gentleman. In short, ho excited the 



LIFE OF WTLD BILL. 153 

affection of her nature, having already won her admira- 
tion. But they parted without avowals, and nearly three 
years passed before they met again, when admiration 
ripened into a warmer feeling, as will be seen in a subse- 
quent chapter. 

Becoming tired of the life which Hays City afforded, 
Bill resigned his position as U. S. Marshal, and in the 
spring of 1872 went to Kansas City, where he found a 
place bristling with sports and excitements well suited to 
his disposition. About the same time the writer, who 
had been occupying an editorial position on the Fort 
Scott Daily Monitor, accepted an offer made him by the 
proprietors of the Kansas City Journal and took up a 
residence in the Bluff City, where he became intimately 
acquainted with the heroic scout and learned much con- 
cerning his marvellous career. 

Kansas City was a brisk town in 1872. It contained a 
population of nearly 30,000, and was the parent block off 
which was chipped all the gambling towns along the Kan- 
sas Pacific railroad. Games of chance, cards, keno, faro, 
roulette, dice, cock-mains, dog fighting and kindred means 
for hazarding money ran day and night. On the west 
side of Main, between Fourth street and Missouri avenue, 
there was nothing in the upper stories of the buildings 
except gamblers and gaming outfits. But this district 
was peculiar only in presenting an unbroken chain, as it 
were, of gambling dens. Fifth street, between Walnut 
and Main, was equally bad, even worse, because the 
rooms were less inviting and patronized by a more disrep- 
utable class. The lower end of main street and the 
levee were given over to brothel houses, about which 
a first-class item could nearly always be found. The 
writer now recalls to mind one evening when he was de- 
tailed to report three murders and one suspicious death. 



154 



IIEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



But to-day the infamies and demoralizing characters 
which once filled the streets of Kansas City exist only in 
the history of her progress, and the hum of her commerce 
has long since displaced the sonorous voice of the keno 
caller and the death-crack of the revolver. 




Notwithstanding the lawless, turbulent elements that 
gave character to Kansas City during the period of Wild 
Bill's residence in the place, he kept himself aloof from 
them, iu his quiet, dignified, reserved way, and thus 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 155 

never had occasion to unloose the tiger that slumbered 
beneath his calm exterior. 

The peaceable tenor of Bill's way was disturbed on but 
one occasion while he remained in the Bluff City, and 
even this circumstance developed into a ludicrous rather 
than a sanguinary scene. Joe Siegmund, now proprietor 
of a railroad eating-house in Malvern, Arkansas, was at 
that time owner and keeper of the St. Nicholas Hotel, 
on the west side of the public square. Attached to the 
hotel was a bar and billiard room, which gathered an 
excellent patronage from the gambling gentry, and was 
nearly always full of excited young bloods taking their 
initiatory lessons in broils and drinking. On the occasion 
referred to, September 17, 1872, Bill walked into the 
saloon with an acquaintance and took a seat near one of 
the billiard tables, to watch a game then in progress. 
He had been in the saloon only a few minutes when four 
" larks," two-thirds full of "Western cussedness, and the 
other third full of whisky, straggled around the room 
and stopped in front of Bill. One of the quartette, 
desirous of establishing a reputation for belligerenc}^, 
having heard much about Wild Bill, and knowing him by 
sight, in a most insulting manner halloed out to his com- 
panions : 

"Here, boys, is the great wild man of the prairies; 
the mighty untamable giaftycutus that eats three men 
every night before retiring and rises so hungry that he 
sometimes chews up a whole town for breakfast. Look 
out, I tell you, its just about his meal time now." 

This harangue very naturally excited Bill's anger, 
but with apparent indifference to the insult he only re- 
plied : 

" See here, young man, I'll lift you with the toe of my 
boot if you don't get away from here in five seconds." 



156 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

The young fellow was spoiling for a row, and showing 
the butt of his pistol he abused Bill in a manner ab- 
solutely unbearable, calling him every vile name that a 
wicked native was capable of uttering. Persuading 
efforts only serving to increase the belicose fellow's pro- 
pensities, Bill at length got up, and catching hold of 
his shoulder, administered a stunning blow on the young 
man's head which brought him to a realizing sense of his 
assailant's true nature. Then holding him by one ear, 
Bill boxed the impudent fellow's face until howls for 
mercy preserved him from a more severe beating. The 
lesson thus imparted was productive of excellent results, 
for the abashed " larker," with tears in his eyes, slunk 
away, followed by his amazed companions. 

After the crowd had departed Bill expressed many re- 
grets for having to use the young man so roughly, but 
every one present pronounced the whipping a most de- 
serving act, as it would probably serve to make the fel- 
low more respectful and considerate in his future con- 
duct. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



In the fall of 1872 Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack had 
accepted a proposition made by Ned Buntline (Judson) 
to cro onthe stage and make a theatrical tour of the States 
iii a play which he proposed to write for them. The en- 
terprise proved such a decided success that for the season 
of 1873-4 the Buffalo Bill Combination, as it was called, 
made several flattering offers to Wild Bill to join them, 
and he was eventually induced to appear before the foot- 
lights in the bloody Indian drama entitled "Scouts of 
the Plains 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 157 

His first appearance on the stage was made in New 
York City, the cast for the play being as follows : 

BUFFALO BILL W. F. Cody. 

TEXAS JACK J. B. Omohundro. 

WILD BILL J. B. Hickok. 

PALE DOVE ( Wife of Texas Jack) Mile. Morlacchi. 

Jim Daws, a renegade horse thief Frank Mordaunt. 

Aunt Annie Carter Miss Jennie Fisher. 

EUa Miss Lizzie Saflord. 

Lotta Miss Eliza Hudson. 

Uncle Henry Carter, a friend of the scouts J. V. Arlington. 

Nick Blunder, with song and dance Walter Fletcher. 

Tom Doggett, in cahoot with Daws W. S. McEvoy. 

Ebenezer Longlank, gov't peace commissioner A. Johnson. 

Tall Oak, a Kiowa, but on the square W. A. Reid. 

Big Thunder, a Comanche Chief B. Meredith. 

Bear Claw, Comanche Brave H. Mainhall. 

Raven Feather ?.J. W. Buck. 

The performance was lacking in many features essen- 
tial to what is called "smoothness," and especially in 
the part taken by Wild Bill. 

Buffalo* Bill, in his autobiography, describes Wild 
Bill's acting in the following manner : 

" Although he had a fine stage appearance, was a hand- 
some fellow and possessed a good, strong voice, yet 
when he went upon the stage before an audience, it was 
almost impossible for him to utter a word. He insisted 
that we were making a set of fools of ourselves, and that 
we were the laughing-stock of the people. 

" Wild Bill was continually playing tricks on the mem- 
bers of the company, and it was his especial delight to 
torment the ' supers.' Quite frequently, in our sham 
Indian battles, he would run up to the ' Indians ' (supers) 
and putting his pistol close to their legs fire, and bum 
them with the powder instead of shooting over their 
heads. This would make them dance and jump, so that 



158 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

it was difficult to make them fall and die — although they 
were paid twenty-five cents each for performing the 
' dying business.' " 

Of his career during the period of his engagement with 
the Buffalo Bill Combination, Wild Bill left no memoran- 
da from winch his exploits might be gathered for publi- 
cation, but several interesting adventures are given in 
Buffalo Bill's autobiography, to which the writer is in- 
debted for many important facts concerning Wild Bill, 
from which the following extracts are taken : 

" One day at Titusville, Pennsylvania, while Burke, 
the business agent, was registering our names and mak- 
ing arrangements for our accommodation, several of us 
started for the billiard room, but were met by the land- 
lord, who stopped me and said that there was a party of 
roughs from the lower oil regions who were spreeing, 
and had boasted that they were staying in town to meet 
the Buffalo Bill gang, and clean them out. The land- 
lord belied of me not to allow the members of the 
troupe to enter the billiard-room, as he did not wish any 
fight in his house. To please the landlord, and at his 
suggestion, I called the boys up into the parlor and ex- 
plained to them the situation. Wild Bill wanted to go 
at once and fight the whole mob, but I persuaded him to 
keep away from them during the day. 

"In order to entirely avoid the roughs the members 
of the company entered the theatre through a private 
door from the hotel, as the two buildings joined each 
other. While I was standing at the door of the theatre 
taking tickets, the landlord came rushing up and said 
that Wild Bill was having a fight with the roughs in the 
bar-room. It seemed that Bill had not been able to re- 
sist the temptation of going to see what kind of a mob it 
was that wanted to test the pluck of the Buffalo BiU 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 159 

party ; and just as he stepped into the room, one of the 
bruisers put his hand on Bill's shoulder and said : 

" ' Hello, Buffalo Bill ! we have been looking for you 
all day.' 

11 ' My name is not Buffalo Bill ; you are mistaken in 
the name,' was the reply. 

" * You're a liar !' said the bruiser. 

" Bill instantly knocked him down, and then seizing 
a chair he laid out four or five of the crowd on the floor, 
and then drove the rest out of the room. All this was 
done in a minute or two, and by the time I got down 
stairs, Bill was coming out of the bar-room, whistling a 
lively tune. 

"'Well! said he, 'I have been interviewing that 
party that wanted to clean us out.' 

"' I thought you promised to come into the Opera 
House by the private entrance ?' 

" * I did try to follow that trail, but I got lost among 
the canons, and then I ran in among the hostiles,' said 
he ; ' but its all right now ; they won't bother us any 
more.' 

" We heard no more of them after that." 

When the company reached Portland, Maine, to fulfill 
an eno;ao:ement, another incident occurred wherein Wild 

Do ' 

Bill again distinguished himself, though not in a personal 
combat. The leading members of the troupe stopped at 
the United States Hotel, a large caravansary at which 
boarded several bachelor merchants of the town. On 
the night succeeding the first performance, Bill retired 
to bed shortly after twelve o'clock, feeling unusually 
tired, owing; to a Ions; walk he had taken durino; the dav. 
Before lying down he discovered that the room adjoining 
his was occupied by several persons engaged in some 
amusement which caused them to make considerable 



160 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

noise ; he retired to bed, however, and tried to sleep de- 
spite the tumult of his neighbors, but finding, at length, 
that the noise increased with no likelihood of abating 
soon , he got up with the intention of either suppressing 
the racket- or having a first-class row. In partial undress 
he knocked at the door of his unknown neighbors only 
to find that the room was occupied by five of Portland's 
leading business men, and that their noise was the result 
of a game of poker, spiced with liquid refreshments of 
savory perfume. Before making known the purpose of 
his visit the party invited him to join them in the game 
and partake of the bottle which was now well nigh empty. 
Nothing ever afforded Bill so much pleasure as a game of 
poker, and to indulge this gratification he was always 
ready to sacrifice a night's rest. He therefore entered 
into the sport of the game and after playing until the 
party were fairly exhausted both in body and purse he 
got up from the table seven hundred dollars better off 
than when he sat down. In order that such pleasant 
company might not separate without some benefit he gen- 
erously gave them this parting advice : 

" Gentlemen, I appreciate your hospitality, and espe- 
cially the good luck in winch I have played to-night, 
therefore I will tell you a little secret, for it may prove 
very valuable to you all hereafter; never wake up a 
stranger, destroy his rest, and invite him to take a hand 
in a game of poker with you. Good night." 

Buffalo Bill, in conversation with the writer, told the 
following amusing story, which I will try to repeat near- 
ly in his own language : 

"When I had arranged terms with Wild Bill to ap- 
pear with my company, we were in New York playing an 
engagement, and I was stopping at the Metropolitan 
Hotel. Bill arrived in New York after dark, and being 



LITE OF WILD KILL. 161 

unacquainted with the city — this being his first visit there 
— he took a hack, instructing the driver to take him to 
the Metropolitan Hotel. Upon arriving at the house, 
Bill asked the driver his charges. 

" ' Five dollars, sir,' was the reply. 

" 'And you wouldn't accept anything less, would you? ' 
asked Bill. 

" ' No, sir, that's the charge, and nothing less.' 

' ' Bill then handed the driver five dollars , at the same time 
striking him a blow in the face that sent him plowing up 
the settlings of the gutter. A policeman very soon came 
after Bill, but bail being furnished by me, he was kept 
out of the tombs ; but the next day I paid a fine of $10 
for him. This was his first experience in New York. 

' ' We had two or three rehearsals together before Bill 
made his appearance, and even then he was required to 
say only a few words. The first scene in which he was 
cast represented a camp fire, around which Wild Bill, 
Texas Jack and myself were sitting telling stories. In 
order to carry out the scene so that it should be a faith- 
ful counterfeit of the reality, we had a whisky bottle 
filled with cold tea which we passed from one to the other 
at the conclusion of each story. When it came Bill's turn 
to relate an adventure I passed him the bottle, and taking 
it in the way with which he was so familiar, he commenced 
draining the contents. I say commenced, because he 
stopped very suddenly and spurted the tea right out on 
the stage, at the same time saying, in a voice loud enough 
for the audience to hear him : ' You must think I'm the 
worst fool east of the Rockies, that I can't tell whisky 
from cold tea. This don't count, and I can't tell a story 
mderthe temptation unless I get real whisky.' I tried 
o remonstrate with him, while the audience fairly shook 

own the galleries with their cheers . At first I was greatly 



1()2 heroes or tiie plains. 

mortified, but it did not take long to convince me that 
Wild Bill had unconsciously made a big hit. I therefore 
sent out for some whisky, which Bill drank, and then 
told his story with excellent effect." 

Wild Bill remained with the combination until the 
spring of 1874, when, at Rochester, N. Y., he parted 
abruptly from the combination. But before deciding 
to cancel his engagement he met Mrs. Lake, who, 
by chance being in Rochester, went to see the per- 
formance. Buffalo Bill had frequently heard Wild 
Bill declare his admiration for this lady, and when he 
discovered her in the audience he immediately informed 
Wild Bill of the fact and offered to introduce him again. 
The result was that Mrs. Lake and Wild Bill met and in 
the few moments they were together Bill said : 

" Mrs. Lake, I don't know how to court, because I 
never did any of it in my life, but I've been thinking 
about you ever since we met in Hays City. Fact is, I'd 
be mighty glad to hitch up in harness with you, because 
I think we'd make a splendid team." 

Mrs. Lake replied, " I don't know, Bill, how well we 
would suit each other, but at the present time my busi- 
ness is in such a condition that I couldn't think of mar- 
rying." 

" How soon do 3011 suppose you could straighten up 
matters so that we could go to the parson together?" en- 
quired Bill. 

" Well, it will require two years probably to settle my 
affairs, but your proposition comes so suddenly and un- 
expectedly that I should have to think about it, for I 
don't know that it would be proper for me to marry 
again," was Mrs. Lake's reply, indicating that she was 
not indifferent to the offer made her. 

" I don't want to insist, but at the same time you suit 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 163 

me to a dot, and I'd give my eyes to marry you ; there- 
fore I'll give you time to consider. I've got to go on 
the stage now to kill a few Indians to please this congre- 
gation, but when the show is out, maybe. I might see 
you over at the Osborne House." 

Bill thus left Mrs. Lake, but contrary to his expecta- 
tions, did not see her again until 1876. 

When he was called for his part during the same even- 
ing's performance, he resumed his old annoying practice 
of singeing the " supers " legs, and carried the trick so 
far this time that Buffalo Bill remonstrated so sharply 
that, without saying a word, Wild Bill doffed his buck- 
skin suit, and resuming his usual dress, walked out of 
the theatre, refusing to appear any more with the combi- 
nation. Before he left Rochester, however, Buffalo Bill 
and Texas Jack made up a purse between them of one 
thousand dollars and gave it to him as an evidence of 
their continued friendship. 

Being considerably flush for a scout, Wild Bill went to 
New York, and while there, in a very laudable effort to 
break a faro bank, got himself ingloriously "busted." In 
this condition a theatrical manager approached him with 
a liberal proposition , so that for a second time he became 
a votary of Thespis, coming again before the public with 
the Wild Bill combination. But he had evidently struck 
a blind pocket of ill luck, for after a few fitful weeks of 
uncertainty the concern became pecuniarily defunct. 
After Bill had left the new combination the manager 
immediately reorganized his troupe and replaced Wild 
Bill by a cheaper character. Everywhere the company 
performed they advertised the renowned Wild Bill as 
their leading star, a member of the troupe being engaged 
to personate the distinguished scout on and off the stage 
alike. Wild Bill was not long in learning of this trick 



164 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

and at once decided to get satisfaction by undeceiving the 
deceiver. Accordingly, learning that the company was to 
appear at Binghamton, N. Y., he went there to witness 
the performance. Waiting until the plot was developing 
much interest to the audience, when the bogus Wild Bill 
was shooting and slashing his way through a band of 
howling Comanches, he leaped upon the stage, and grab- 
bing the manager, flung him bodily into the orchestra, 
and then knocked the personator of his character through 
the scenes, regardless of the knives and pistols and tom- 
ahawks carried by the Indians. 

This novel procedure precipitated an intermission, 
during which Bill unconcernedly resumed his seat and 
shouted to the company to proceed with the show. 

Information of the interruption having reached the 
municipal officers, a policeman was sent up to arrest Bill. 
He was easily found, but when the officer asked him to 
consider himself under arrest the reckless scout replied : 

" How numerous are you? " 

" I am alone ; why do you ask? " 

"Well, I would advise you to call up some assistance." 

The policeman took his advice and went out and soon 
returned with a brother officer. The two then approached 
Bill and asked him to accompany them. 

" How numerous are you. now? " Bill asked. 

" There are two of us.'' 

" Then I would advise }'ou to go out on another 
recruiting expedition." 

The two policemen, anxious to avoid a conflict with the 
noted scout, then called the sheriff, who requested Bill 
to submit to arrest, and had no difficulty in taking him 
out of the theater and keeping him in charge until the 
following morning, when his trial took place before 
the sity judge. The circumstances of the row having 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 167 

been detailed Bill was fined three dollars and costs, but 
his satisfaction in punishing the bogus character more 
than compensated him for his expense and trouble. 

Leaving the East, Bill went directly to Kansas City 
and from there to Cheyenne, a place he had not visited 
for several years. Here he drifted to a faro bank which 
was run by a gambler named Boulder. Bill had only 
two hundred dollars with him and he commenced the 
game by staking small amounts. Losing all these, he 
played up for an average by doubling. Staking fifty 
dollars he also lost that, but immediately put down an- 
other fifty dollar bill. Boulder, who was banking, told 
Bill, who was a stranger to him, that the limit was 
twenty-five dollars and that he couldn't play above that 
sum. 

"Why," enquired Bill, "didn't you just take fifty 
dollars of my money?" 

"Well," answered Boulder, "I won't let you play 
that amount any more." 

" You won't?" replied Bill, " then I'll see why ; that 
fifty dollar bill lays on the tra}' - , and if my card don't 
turn, the money is yours, but if it does come out, then 
I'll have fifty dollars of your money or there '11 be fun 
here, that's all." 

From this a war of words followed, until Bill struck 
Boulder on the head with a heavy walking cane, which 
rolled him off a substantial seat. Several bouncers for 
the establishment rushed upon Bill, but he knocked thern 
iu a most artistic manner, until finding the fighting too 
progressive he jumped into a corner and jerked out two 
pistols. At this juncture the bar-keeper, attending the 
saloon down stairs, hearing the noise, ran up and discov- 
ering the situation, cried out : 

"Look out, boys, that's Wild Bill !" 



168 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

This information acted like magic ; the tempest was 
becalmed, and a moment later Bill was alone. 

On the following day Boulder, although still nursing a 
badly damaged head, called on Bill and producing cham- 
pagne and cigars, the two settled their difference ami- 
cably. 

Some time after the killing of Phil Cole, his brother, a 
well-known character in the far West, came to Hays City 
with the expressed determination of avenging his rela- 
tive's death. Wild Bill had only a few days before gone 
to New York to join the Buffalo Bill Combination. 
Learning this fact, Cole professed to be deeply chagrined, 
saving : 

" Yes, that is just my luck. I've come one thousand 
miles to kill Wild Bill, only to find that the coward has 
left the country ; but I'll just lay for hi in aAvhile in these 
regions, and if he does come back we'll decide who is the 
handiest with pistols." 

Weeks passed by, with Bill still in the East, wholly 
unconscious of Jim Cole's intentions, until at length, as 
already described, Wild Bill severed his connection with 
the troupe and returned West, going to Cheyenne. He 
had scarcely reached that place when ho was apprised by 
afriend writing from Hays City that Jim Cole was on his 
track and was about ready to leave for Cheyenne to meet 
him. Bill gave little heed to this information, because 
such threats as Cole was making had grown old to him. 

About two weeks after his arrival in Cheyenne, how- 
ever, Bill suddenly became conscious of the danger which 
threatened him. This discovery was made in the follow- 

ina manner: He was sitting in Luke Murrin's sa- 
cs o 

loon reading, when his attention was directed to two 
strangers who, entering, walked up to the bar and called 
for a drink. The order was given by Jim Cole, and 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 169 

though Bill had never seen this man, he instantly recog- 
nized in his voice a similarity to that of Phil Cole's, and 
was thus brought to a realization of his danger. 

By chance, at the time of this meeting, Wild Bill's only 
weapon was a small double-barreled pistol which Buffalo 
Bill had given him in New York ; but still more disad- 
vantageous was the fact that it contained but a single 
cartridge. 

Behind the bar was a very large looking glass, and as 
the faces of Cole and his partner were turned toward the 
glass, Bill could study their features and keep himself 
prepared (though indifferently) for the emergency soon 
to arise. By a preconcerted signal the two men turned 
and drew their pistols simultaneously, but Bill was too 
quick for his assailants. With the one shot he killed 
Cole and almost at the same instant he threw the empty 
pistol with such force in the face of Cole's partner that he 
succeeded in rendering his aim harmless. To follow up 
this advantage and prevent the stranger from shooting 
again, Bill grabbed him and with a dexterous effort trip- 
ped him and threw him with such force that his head 
struck the counter and broke his neck. 

The coroner ' < sat on ' ' the two bodies the same day, 
and Wild Bill was duly arrested. A preliminary exami- 
nation was had a few days after, and such positive testi- 
mony was adduced proving Cole's threats and determi- 
nation, as well also as the circumstances of the attack 
made by the victims, that Bill was released on a verdict 
of justifiable homicide. 



170 HEROES OF THE TLA INS. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Wild Bill remained in Cheyenne only a short time, 
for meeting with a party of friends who were wandering 
about in quest of adventure, he proposed a visit to the 
Black Hills, which section was just then beginning to 
attract attention on account of important discoveries of 
gold. Two of the party — Tom Busey, of Laramie, and 
Doc McGregor, an old trapper, who had just left his 
season camp on the Nebraska river — were delighted with 
Bill's proposition, and a few days later, having packed 
their mules with provisions and mining utensils, the three 
started for the Hills. 

After leaving Cheyenne there was but one practicable 
route to the point of destination, and this led along Sage 
Creek to the confluence of Cheyenne river, and followed 
the main stream to French Creek. After reaching this 
small water way the route lay through several large 
canons, under the brow of one of which, on a level spot 
only a few hundred yards from the creek, the party 
pitched their camps. After a few days' hard work a 
comfortable cabin was constructed and prospecting began. 

In comparatively comfortable quarters the three men 
continued their explorations for gold, meeting with much 
success and living luxuriously upon the abundant game 
with which the forests abounded. Notwithstanding the 
war-like tendencies of the Blackfeet and Sioux Indians 
who possessed that section of country, the party lived 
for a period of several months without interruption, nor 
were any Indians seen in the vicinity of their camp. 

In the early part of April, 187"), however, while the 
party was still in camp, Bill met with an adventure which 
deserves lo rank with the most marvelous of his many 



LITE OF WILD BILL. 



171 



escapes. Winter was still holding the creek in icy fetters 
and the ground remained covered with a crust of snow. 
The evening had been spent, as usual, in smoking and 




THE CABIN IN THE BLACK HILLS. 



172 HEROES OE THE PLAINS. 

reading well-worn books. Over the fire hung a pail of 
boiling beans and above the cheerful, blazing house logs 
were the rifles and wide-spreading antlers of a mon- 
strous buck. This completed a perfect picture of fron- 
tier happiness, for such contentment is rarely found even 
in the most sumptuous elegance of metropolitan mansions. 

Before supper was prepared — or rather before the 
beans were boiled sufficiently — Bill, who was acting as 
cook, discovered that more water was required to finish 
the cooking, and that the water bucket was empty. 
Putting on his coat, he took the bucket and a canteen — 
the only vessels in the camp used for holding water — and 
started for the stream. The moon was shining with 
scintillating lustre, lighting up the canon and throwing 
out long shadows from the trees overhead. 

As Bill was stooping to dip the water from a hole cut 
in the ice, chancing to glance about him he saw a large, 
silver-gray fox trotting on the ice up the creek. This 
was a prize of no inconsiderable value, the pelt being mar- 
ketable readily at from fifty to sixty dollars. In a mo- 
ment Bill pulled his pistol and fired at the animal, but 
succeeded in only breaking one of its hind-legs. The 
creek made a sharp turn at this point and in order that 
he might not lose the prize, Bill set out in pursuit, ex- 
pecting soon to secure another shot. Every moment, 
just as an opportunity appeared on the point of being of- 
fered for a shot, the fox would dart behind some interven- 
ing object, so that it was useless for Bill to fire, and yet the 
distanco between them continued only a few yards. In 
this manner the scout was lured mile after mile, uncon- 
scious of the distance he had traveled, until the larcre 
canon rose up before him in black and singular grand- 
eur. The moon had now gone down behind the tower- 
ing hills, leaving the creek an indistinct line difficult to 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



173 



follow. With all his persistent pursuit and lengthy 
journey he failed to capture the prize for which so much 
time and effort had been expended ; for the growing 
darkness had enabled the fox to elude his pursuer and 
hide somewhere about the roots of the numerous trees 
which fringed the stream. 

Retracing his steps again, Bill had proceeded but a 




Wild Bill and the Fox. 

short distance when he was startled by an unmistakable 
sound emanating from the direction of the camp. It was 
the distinct war-whoop of northern Sioux, and immedi- 
ately apprehensions arose in his mind for the safety of 
his comrades. Anxious to render aid when it was doubly 
valuable, Bill ran down the creek with all possible speed, 
but before arriving near the camp he discovered a bright 
tinge in the atmosphere which told him that the cabin 



174 , HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

was on fire. Still running swiftly lie did not pause until 
reaching the opening leading down to the creek, when he 
saw a baud of twenty or more Indians dancing around 
the burning timbers of his home and consuming the 
whisky which they had found in a keg in the cabin. 
There was presented before him a panorama replete with 
destruction and broken hopes. He saw the bleeding 
scalps of his comrades displayed as trophies of this mur- 
derous depredation, and realizing that there was nothing 
left for him to do but to look after his own safety, he 
decided to leave the country at once, on foot, as the 
stock of his party was now in the hands of the Indians, 
and make directly for Ft. Fetterman. 

The well known cunning and suspicion peculiar to the 
Indians Bill knew would lead to an examination of the 
vicinity to discover if there were any others belonging to 
the camp whom chance had led away, and this examina- 
tion he felt certain would result in a discovery of his 
trail and lead to pursuit. Acting on this belief he trav- 
eled with what speed he was capable, never stopping for 
rest during the entire night. 

After daylight, on the following morning, observing 
no indications of a pursuit, and being almost worn out 
with fatigue, he lay down beside a tree and immediately 
fell asleep. It was fully an hour past mid-day when he 
awoke, and being as hungry now as he was tired before, 
he at once cast about with the hope of finding some kind 
of game upon which to satisfy his gnawing appetite. 
Fortune threw in his way a sage-hen, which a single shot 
dispatched, and upon this he soon made an excellent 
meal. Scattering the embers of the fire he had built 
that it might not readily afford fresh evidence of his 
trail, should it be pursued, Bill resumed the southward 
march, hoping to gain Ft. Fetterman in the two days 
succeeding. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 175 

On the evening of the second day, while ascending to 
the summit of a knoll which lay in his route, looking 
away to the northwest, Bill discovered some suspicious 
spots on the rim of the horizon which bordered the prai- 
rie. Studying these for a few minutes, his keen sense 
of perception told him that the moving figures were those 
of Indians, while the direction indicated that they were 
on his track. 

South of the place where Bill discovered his trailing 
enemies was a strip of heavy timber which he thought 
overhung the banks of upper Beaver Creek. Being less 
than three miles distant, he hoped to gain this covert 
and by wading in the stream throw the Indians off his 
track, which was now easily followed by impressions 
in the thin crust of snow still covering the ground. 
Hurriedly he set off, knowing that no time was to be lost, 
for the Indians were evidently riding at a fast pace, and 
were, perhaps, less than ten miles distant. 

He had approached to within about one mile of the 
strip of woods when a troop of fifteen or more Sioux 
dashed over the knoll that had hid them from Bill's 
sight, and seeing the fleeing man they urged their horses 
to a run , shouting with exultation over the promise of a 
fresh victim. 

Unfortunately for Bill, when he left the camp, harbor- 
ing not the remotest suspicion of meeting with any ad- 
venture, he had taken with him but a single pistol, of 
six chambers, and even this weapon he had retained only 
from custom. Two chambers of the pistol had been 
emptied, and what defence he could now make lay in the 
four loads remaining. 

A lively chase ensued, Bill running at his greatest 
speed, but it soon became apparent that his chances for 
escape were exceedingly small. To add to his emuar- 



17G • HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

rassment, having reached the timber several hundred 
yards in advance of his pursuers, he discovered that the 
stream, which was of considerable width and evidently 
deep, ran along the edge of the timber next to him, and 
that the bank was a ledge of shelving rocks fully fifteen 
feet in height. The creek was frozen over, to what 
thickness Bill had no means of ascertaining, but he was 
afraid to leap from the precipitous bank lest the ice 
should not be sufficiently strong to sustain his weight, 
and in that event results from the fall would either have 
killed him outright or caused such bodily injury as would 
have made him an easy victim to the Indians. 

Bill had faced many dangerous dilemmas during his 
adventurous life, but for the time being he thought this 
one offered the least chances for escape. Had he been 
armed sufficiently, he thought, it were possible for him 
to seek the cover of some friendly tree, and thus par- 
tially protected fight with at least a faint hope of saving 
his scalp ; but having only four bullets it was impossible 
to use them with sufficient economy for his present 
needs. 

On came the whooping savages, but without discharg- 
ing an arrow or firing a shot, evidently bent on capturing 
the fugitive and reserving him for the stake. Seeing 
that to run along the towering brink would only hasten 
his end, the intrepid scout turned upon his pursuers when 
they were within a few yards, and discharging every load 
in his pistol, saw three of his enemies fall dead and an- 
other wounded, apparently mortally. At this the Indians 
drew down their guns and bows, realizing that they had 
• aught an obstinate Tartar that it were safer to kill than 
to capture. But Bill was too quick for them ; taking 
desperate chances, as he discharged his last shot, and 
still holding his pistol in a position as if intending to 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



177 



fire, he threw himself over the dangerous brink into the 
stream below. 

It is singular how fortune follows the daring, but 
even more singular how lucky circumstances almost 
always arose to deliver Wild Bill when surrounding dan- 
gers seemed to offer no hope for escape. So it again 
transpired in descending from the stony ledge overhang- 
ing Beaver Creek, for instead of being dashed to pieces 




Taking Desperate Chances. 

or seriously crippled, Bill fell into an air-hole, and 
beyond the chill of a submersion, he escaped all serious 
results. The water was very deep, but he managed to 
keep well concealed from the Indians, and clambering 
under the ledge soon got onto the ice, which he found 
to be more than a foot in thickness. The red-skins, 
loth to lose a victim who had, for the time, so singularly 



178 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

escaped them, rode up the bank of the stream, hoping 
to find a less precipitous place, where a safe descent 
might be made on horseback, and following back under 
the bank, yet capture the fugitive, or find his mangled 
body, from which some trophy might be obtained. 

Bill continued his journey down the stream, always 
keeping under the protecting ledge. He expected the 
Indians would soon appear, and with this fear continual- 
ly harassing him, he looked on every side for some 
shelter in which to hide. But there was nothing to help 
him out of the position which strange circumstances had 
forced him into. Darkness had now intervened, and 
this alone offered any hope ; but even this seemed to be of 
little value after several hours of rapid traveling, when he 
still found no place at which he could ascend out of the 
canon. On either side the bank rose in perpendicular 
walls, growing gradually higher as he advanced, and 
towering above him like grim monsters anxious to topple 
over and make sure of his destruction. 

Having had nothing to eat since dining on the sage- 
hen, he again became very hungry; but the chances of 
getting anything to eat were only equal to his chances of 
escape and reaching Ft. Fetterman. All night long, 
therefore, he journeyed on the ice, maintaining a 
watchful regard for every cleft and crevice in the canon, 
fearful of each, lest it might be a passage-way for the 
Indians, and hoping that it might permit his ascent, for 
in following the devious ways of Beaver Creek he knew 
that, instead of going toward to the Fort, he was fre- 
quently traveling in an opposite direction. 

As day began to break on the following morning, Bill 
discovered the protruding trunk of a large cedar tree, by 
which there was a very rugged but possible ascent up the 
side of the canon. Being exceedingly tired, he concluded 



LIFE OP WILD BILL. 



179 



to rest a while on the tree trunk, behind which he could 
screen himself from the observation of the Indians should 
they appear on the ice, and in which place he felt secure 
from detection by any one above him. The weather had 
moderated so much during the night that with the first 
rays of the morning sun not a trace of snow was left on 
the ice or ground, which was a kindness of nature toward 
the fugitive as grateful as it was unexpected. With a 




Wild Bill's Miraculous Escape from the Indians. 

feeling of partial relief, he gave way to exhaustion, and 
fell asleep hugging the trunk of his friendly shelter. 
When he awoke, several hours afterward, the sky was 
overcast with angry, threatening clouds, while a succes- 
sion of heaven's cannonading presaged the terrible storm 
which was rapidly approaching. The rain soon began to 
fall in great drops, and in a short time afterward he 



180 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

heard in the distance the mighty roar of rushing water 
as it came down the canon. Appreciating the danger of 
his position, he was on the point of clambering up the 
rugged bank to escape the rising waters who- 1 his atten- 
tion was attracted by the yells of Indians. Looking in 
the direction from whence the sounds proceeded, he wit- 
nessed with intense relief the struggles of his now fated 
enemies, tossed on the seething crests of the torrent as it 
tore down the canon, lashing the rocks with the bodies 
of horses and Indians, stifling their despairing cries and 
sweeping them remorselessly in the dreadful billows. 
Fortune had again favored him. His enemies were 
buried in the destroying foam of the avalanche of grind- 
ing ice and water, and a sure way for his escape was 
opened at a time most opportune. 

The Indians had evidently gone many miles up the 
creek bank before they found a place permitting their 
descent onto the ice, and they had followed down the 
stream only to be caught by the torrents of water which 
cut off all chances for their escape. 

Bill climbed with great difficulty to the top of the 
bank, and marking a straight line southward reaehedFort 
Fetterman in an exhausted and famished condition four 
days after leaving his desolated camp. 



CHAPTER XV. 



Wild Bill was well received by the soldiers garrisoned 
at Fetterman, and after relating the story of his wonder- 
ful adventures in tin; Black Hills there was great desire 
manifested to at once organize a campaign for the purpose 
of punishing the tribe that was responsible for the per- 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 181 

petration of such an outrage. But Gen. Curtis, who 
had command of the troops, could not move without 
orders from Gen. Sheridan, and Bill therefore returned 
to Kansas City. His five months stay in the Hills, how- 
ever, convinced him of the rich deposits of gold which 
that section contained, and he decided to organize an ex- 
pedition from the States, with the view of leading a force 
into the auriferous region of such strength as would pro- 
vide security against molestation from the Indians. 

In furtherance of his scheme Bill visited several cities, 
but the season was now so far advanced that those whom 
he, found willing to join such an expedition, prevailed 
upon him to wait until the following spring, 1876, when 
the trip could be made more advantageously. 

Keturning to Kansas City he remained for some time 
inactive owing to an attack of ophthalmia superinduced 
no doubt from the exposure he underwent while in the 
Black Hills. Dr. Thome treated him for several months 
with such success that his eyesight, which was for a time 
entirely destroyed, was partly restored, but he never 
again regained his perfect vision. 

In the latter part of February, 1876, Wild Bill again 
visited Cheyenne with the view of perfecting necessary 
arrangements with some of his friends of that place, for 
entering the gold region with his proposed expedition. 
By a singular coincidence (each being wholly unaware 
of the other's whereabouts,) Mrs. Lake also appeared in 
Cheyenne at the same time, visiting one of her relatives, 
Mr. S. L. Moyer. Each had been in the town nearly 
two weeks before either was aware of the other's pres- 
ence, as no one in the place knew of the tender regard 
that existed between them, or even of their acquaintance. 
One evening, while in conversation with an intimate 

friend, Bill spoke of his admiration for Mrs. Lake, and 
11 



182 HEROES OE THE fLAtNS. 

forthwith lie was struck with astonishment by the deola 
1 dtion of his friend : 

"Why, Mrs. Lake is in the city now; didn't you 
know it?" 

" Oh, you're joking," answered Bill; " if I was cer- 
tain this town held her now, you could just prepare 
for a wedding, and that mighty quick, too." 

" No, I'm not joking, and if you '11 go over with me 
to Mr. Mover's, to whom I'll introduce you, I'll show 
you Mrs. Lake." 

This proposition satisfied Bill, and the two immedi- 
ately started for Mr. Mover's house, where, happy realiza- 
tion, Bill met his future wife. 

Becoming directly acquainted with the affectionate re- 
lation sustained between Bill and Mrs. Luke, Mr. Mover 
and his family withdrew and left them alone. Wild Bill 
then renewed his suit, and pressed his claims with such 
persistency that the engagement was perfected and ar- 
rangements concluded for the wedding, which it was 
agreed should take place on the following day- 
Several intimate friends of Bill were surprised to re- 
ceive invitations, on the morning of March 5th, to wit- 
ness the wedding ceremonies of J. B. Hickok, (Wild 
Bill) and Mrs. Agnes Lake Thatcher, in the afternoon of 
the same day. Of course they all responded, and when 
the contracting parties stood up it was before an audience 
numbering about twenty persons. The Rev. W. F. 
Warren, a Methodist divine of Che} r enne, performed the 
service at Mr. Mover's residence, and after receiving 
many congratulations the couple took the evening train 
east and went directly to St. Louis, where, after spend- 
ing a few days, they proceeded to Cincinnati, where nu- 
merous relatives of Mrs. Lake lived. Here they were 
received with many kind manifestations from all who 



LIFE OF MILD BILL. 183 

knew them, and their new life thus began under au- 
spicious promises for future happiness. 

In this connection it is proper to give the reader an in- 
troduction to the new wife of our hero, especially since 
Mrs. Hickok is a lady whose name has been prominently 
before the people of both continents for mairy years. 

The widow of Wild Bill is a native of Cincinnati, where 
she was born in 1832 ; her maiden name was Agnes 
Thatcher, and her parents were persons of eminent 
standing:. At the age of fifteen she married William 
Lake who soon afterward became proprietor of a circus 
and followed the life of a showman until his unprovoked 
murder in 1869. As an arenic clown Lake had few 
equals and his name was sufficient to pack a canvas. 

Mrs. Lake, at an early age, manifested a talent for 
the profession which her husband so fittingly adorned. 
She was the original " Mazeppa," and played this great 
character throughout Europe and America ; she also ap- 
peared on the theatre boards in many other starring 
parts, always with success. After joining her husband's 
circus she became the greatest slack- wire performer in 
America, and was the first person to execute the daring 
feat of trundling a wheelbarrow, on a small wire, over 
the centre-pole of a circus tent. But her most distin- 
guished performances were in equestrian acts, and 
especially as a manege rider. In this she never had an 
equal until her own daughter, Emma, arose to a position 
of prominence when the mother had retired from the 
arena. In her travels — 180 7-8 — she visited the largest 
cities of Prussia, and in Berlin she appeared as "Mazep- 
pa" at the Victoria Theatre, rendering the part in the 
German language. So well pleased was the Emperor 
tVilliam, who witnessed the performance, that he sent 
\dv an autograph letter of thanks, and recommended her 



184 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

as the most finished actor then in the Empire. For a 
time she also performed the daring feat of entering a 
den of lions twice each day, and was known as " Senorita 
Agnes, the Lion Queen." After the death of her hus- 
band, for more than three years she successfully man- 
aged the Hippo-Olympiad Circus, attending to all the 
managerial details of the business and taking the part of 
a regular performer also. An interesting book of itself 
might be written concerning the life of this excellent 
woman, who now, nursing the grief winch misfortune 
bequeathed her — lamenting the loss of two loving hus- 
bands, both of whom were the victims of foulest murder 
— she lives only in the ambition of her beautiful daugh- 
ter, her only child, who now delights the Western world 
with her electrical horsemanship. 

Miss Emma Lake, though only twenty-five years of 
age, is a phenomenal circus rider, whose reputation has 
spread over both hemispheres. She is indisputably 
without an equal on horseback, especially as a manege 
rider. Beautiful of face and figure, lithe and sinuous as 
the mother of grace, indomitable and delighted with her 
profession, she has achieved a rank which the most am- 
bitious woman can never hope to execl. In addition to 
her achievements in the ring she is a lady of extra- 
ordinary intelligence and culture, possessing a finished 
education and most refined sensibilities. Her literary 
efforts have found a conspicuous place in the leading 
journals of America, and some of her poetical pro- 
ductions exhibit decided talent. Miss Emma Lake, as 
she is known among those of her profession, is the wife 
of Gil. Robinson, jr., son of the celebrated John Robin- 
son, of circus fame. She has been traveling, however, 
with P. T. Barnum's Exhibition for several years, re- 
ceiving the largest salary of any person employed by that 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 185 

well-known showman. Her residence is in Cincinnati, 
where she has an elegant home. She has one child, a 
beautiful little girl, who is the pride of the neighbor- 
hood, and with her lives Mrs. Hickok, whose every want 
is administered to with true filial devotion. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Wild Bill remained with his wife in Cincinnati nearly 
two weeks, and then giving her an affectionate good- 
bye, went directly to St. Louis for the purpose of get- 
ting his proposed expedition organized. Excitement 
over the Black Hills discoveries was now at fever heat, 
and a lively business was being done at Bismarck and 
Cheyenne in fitting out parties who were rushing into the 
gold region with reckless haste. A great number of 
those intent on reaching the Hills went by boat from St. 
Louis to Bismarck and then overland. But Bill con- 
sidered the route from Cheyenne as the most expeditious 
and practicable ; and his company was organized to pro- 
ceed that way, where outfits could be had much cheaper 
than at Bismarck. 

It required several days to make up the desired num- 
ber of men, as Bill had fixed upon not less than one hun- 
dred and fifty, and during this period of organization he 
daily visited the writer, who was then city editor of the 
Evening Dispatch, and reported the progress of his 
scheme. 

In the latter part of March about one hundred persons 
had joined the expedition at St. Louis, and nearly as 
many more had enlisted under Carpenter at Kansas City, 
so that the two companies were consolidated and started 



186 



HEROES OF THE TLA INS. 



to the Black Hills via Cheyenne on the 12th of April. 
The party was guided through safely, reaching the Hills 
in the first part of May. In the meantime the town of 
Deadwood had sprung into being and was filling up with 
the rapidity only known to mining towns. Rough shan- 
ties and tents dotted the hillsides ; creaking wagons 
marked out the streets by establishing roadways, and a 
hundred saloons and other evil concomitants loomed up 
in swelling the town's importance. 




VI KW OF DF.ADWOOD. 



Having settled the men, or rather discharged his duties 
as guide, Bill established himself in Deadwood to watch 
for an opportunity to make a profitable strike. He had 
located several claims and was making arrangements to 
complete the necessary assessment work by trading claims 
for labor. 

Deadwood, like every olhcr big mining town that has 
yet been located in the West, was full of rough charac- 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 187 

ters, renegades, cut-throats, gamblers and the devil's 
agents generally. Night and day the wild orgies of de- 
praved humanity continued ; a fiddler was an important 
personage, provided he would hire out to saw all night in 
a saloon, and the concert singer was a bonanza, especially 
if the voice were clothed in petticoats. The arbiter of all 
disputes was either a knife or pistol, and the graveyard 
soon started with a steady run of victims. Sodom and 
Gomorrah were both dull, stupid towns compared with 
Deadwood, for in a square contest for the honors of 
moral depravity the Black Hills' capital could give the 
people of the Dead Sea cities three points in the game 
and then skunk them both. 

Wild Bill indulged his propensities more or less while 
in Deadwood, but continued to prospec ; and avoided 
difficulties of every character until the day of his 
murder. 

In my first " Life of Wild Bill " I was led into mak- 
ing a very unjust allusion, which was as far from the 
truth as the poles are apart. This arose from informa- 
tion which I believed trustworthy but which I definitely 
ascertained sometime afterward, was a malicious report, 
and the pleasure I now have in correcting the evil which 
I unconsciously committed by that act is such that I 
should be glad to extend the excuse and correction far 
beyond the limits of this book, and make my assurances 
of regret in person. 

The allusion referred to was in doubting the affection 
of Bill for his wife and asserting that a final separation 
had occurred between them before Bill left for the Hills. 
The facts are, no man ever loved a woman more ardently 
than Bill did his wife ; she was in his very soul ; her 
spirit was his ruling mentor and all his ambition was 
centered in her happiness. How true this is may be in- 



188 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ferred from the following letter, the very last Bill ever 
wrote. I copy from the original, which is at present in 
my possession : 

Dead wood, Dakota, July 17th, 1876. 
My Own Darling Wife Agnes : 

I have but a few moments left before this letter starts. 
I never was as well in my life ; but you would laugh to 
see me now — just got in from prospecting. Will go 
away again to-morrow. Will write again in the morning, 
but God knows when the letter will start. My friend 
will take this to Cheyenne if he lives. 

I don't expect to hear from you, but it is all the same ; 
I know my Agnes and only live to love her. Never 
mind, Pet, we will have a home yet, then we will be so 
happy. I am almost sure I will do well here. 

The man is hurrying me. Good bye, dear wife. 
Love to Emma. 

J. B. Hickok. 

This letter is copied verbatim. It will be seen that 
he promises to write again on the following day, but he 
either neglected to f ullill the promise or the letter mis- 
carried, for the one here reproduced was the last Mrs. 
Hickok ever received from him. 

The last act in the life of Wild Bill was fast approach- 
ing when this letter was written. Though he lived in 
apparent peace with every one in Deadwood, far re- 
moved as he was from the scenes of his personal con- 
Hi ft s, where he looked for enemies in every corner and 
at every turn, yet even here, while among new found 
friends, it was destined that he should die at the 
hands of as cowardly a villain as God ever placed on 
this sphere to disgrace the name of humanity. 

Returning from another prospecting tour along the 
gulches in the Black Hills, Wild Bill repaired to a saloon 
kept by Nuttall & Mann, and engaged in a game of 
poker. His opponent in the game was a fellow he had 



LITE OF WILD BILL. 191 

never seen before, named JackMcCall. This man had 
been at work for three or four different parties in the 
Hills, and as his previous history was unknown, he pass- 
ed for a "gentleman," to use the term in a qualified 
sense. The two played for several hours and until the 
game was concluded by Bill having won largely from 
McCall— about five hundred dollars. But though the 
play had been a very disastrous one for Jack, yet he ap- 
peared in no wise ill-humored, and acknowledged that he 
had been beaten in a fair game. 

In the afternoon of the second day (Wednesday, 
August 2d), after his successful bout with McCall, Bill 
again engaged in a game of poker at the same saloon, 
with Carl Mann, Charley Rich and Captain Massey, a 
Missouri river pilot. The quartette of gamesters were 
all laughing and joking as the game progressed, indicat- 
ing that none had lost so heavily as to disturb the 
equanimity of temper. About three o'clock p. m. Jack 
McCall was seen entering the saloon in a careless man- 
ner, so that not the least suspicion was created as to the 
cowardly, villainous purpose of his visit. But with that 
calculating carefulness with which an arrant coward 
always conceals his designs, McCall walked up to the 
bar and around behind his victim. Then, with an anxious 
glance lest some one of the party might detect his move- 
ments, he jerked out a large pistol and placing the muz- 
zle within a yard of Wild Bill's head, fired, exclaiming 
at the time, but in a subdued voice : " Damn you, take 
that ! ' ' The ball went crashing through the back of 
Bill's head and came out at the center of his right 
cheek ; but before it had spent its force it struck 
Capt. Massey in the left arm, shivering the bone, and 
was so firmly embedded that it had to be cut out. 
Wild Bill dropped his head forward, the cards fell from 



102 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

his relaxing grasp, and, in a succession of slow move- 
ments, he slipped out of the chair and then fell prone 
upon the floor. The murderer's work had been thor- 
oughly done, for his victim died without a convulsive 
shiver and lay before him covered with a growing pallor ; 
but on the face, though the shattered cheek was crim- 
soned with a flow of richest blood, the last smile still 
lingered, as if to proclaim the triumph of his manhood, 
in showing how bravely he could die. 

After firing the fatal shot McCall drove the crowd 
before him out of the saloon and resisted arrest until the 
fear possessed him that some avenging friend of Bill's 
would slay him . It was then the assassin offered to sub- 
mit to a trial and accept the consequences of his act. He 
was taken to a building in the lower part of the town, 
where a volunteer guard was placed over him. 

Within an hour after the murder the whole of Dead- 
wood was in a furore of excitement. A coroner's jury 
was soon empanneled with C. H. Sheldon as foreman, 
which, after a short inquiry, rendered a verdict in accord- 
ance with the circumstances as here related. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



After receiving the verdict of the coroner's jury, im- 
mediate preparations were made for the trial of the mur- 
derer. McDaniel's theatre was chosen as the most suit- 
able place for conducting the proceedings, as it was cer- 
tain a very large crowd would be in attendance. There 
was no regular court at Dead wood, and in the absence of 
duly qualified officers it was determined to conduct the 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 193 

trial according to the usages of self -constituted courts 
outside the pale of established legal jurisdictions. 

A meeting of citizens was held at the theatre during 
the evening, at which preparations were made for the 
trial. Judge W. L. Kuykendall presided over the as- 
semblage, and after stating the object of the meeting he 
was unanimously chosen as Judge in the trial of the mur- 
derer. Isaac Brown was elected sheriff, and one deputy 
and twelve guards were appointed by the presiding of- 
ficer. After proceeding thus far an adjournment was 
had until nine o'clock the following day, in order that 
some time might be had for necessary preparations, and 
to convey an announcement of the results of the meet- 
ing to the miners of the Whitewood and Deadwood dis- 
tricts. 

At the appointed horn, on Thursday, the meeting was 
called pursuant to adjournment, when the action of the 
preceding meeting was submitted in a report read by J. 
A. Swift, and adopted. Col. May was chosen to con- 
duct the prosecution while the prisoner selected A. B. 
Chapline to defend him, but as Chapline was quite ill at 
the time, Judge Miller was named instead. A commit- 
tee of three, consisting of Mr. Reid, of Gayville, Jos. 
Harrington, of Deadwood, and Mr. Cain, of Montana 
City, was next appointed by the chair, whose duty it was 
to select the names of thirty-three residents from each of 
their respective districts, and from the names thus sub- 
mitted the jury of twelve was to be drawn. 

Having now completed all the necessary arrangements 
another adjournment was ordered until two o'clock p. M. 
when the trial was to begin. 

The excitement on the streets continued to increasf; 
and sentiments of every character were fully expressed. 
Some favored a lynching before trial, a few deemed the 



194 HEROES OF TITE PLAINS. 

act justifiable, while a greater number were disposed to 
abide the finding of the jury after a fair trial. 

Promptly at the hour appointed the chosen officers 
filed into the theater building, the prisoner being con- 
ducted by the sheriff and guards. The improvised court 
room, however, was fairly packed an houi? before, and 
the officers therefore had to elbow their way to the plat- 
form. 

Jack McCall, as he took a seat on the right of Judge 
Kuykcndall, presented a most forbidding appearance. 
He was twenty-five years of ago, but dissipation and a 
low life had painted their stains on his ugly features. 
His brow was low and retreating, as a sign of his cow- 
ardly and brutal propensities, while sandy hair, small 
moustaches and cross-eyes completed the unmistakable 
evidences of his villainous character. He attempted to 
appear indifferent and assume the role of a desperado 
who had been accustomed to acting such parts, but de- 
spite this effort the chicken liver he possessed made his 
flesh creep and the blanche and color of his checks come 
and go like a patient badly overcome with intermittent 
fever. 

The first proceeding was a selection of jurors. The 
ninety-nine names submitted by the committee were 
written on slips of paper and placed in a hat, from which 
they were drawn by the deputy sheriff. As each name 
was called the person responding thereto was examined 
touching his qualifications to serve as a juror in the case. 
Nearly all had either formed or expressed an opinion as 
to the guilt of the prisoner, and the venire was therefore 
almost exhausted before the necessary panel of twelve 
was chosen, and which consisted of the following persons : 
John Mann, J.J. Bumfs, L. D. Brokow, Edward Burke, L. 
A. Judd, J. II. Thompson, Charles "Whitehead, John E. 



LITE OF WILD BILL. 195 

Thompson, Geo. S. Hopkins, K. F. Towle, J. F. Cooper 
and Alexander Travis. The jury being sworn, the trial 
proceeded. The witnesses examined were Charles Rich, 
Carl Mann, Samuel Young, an employe at the saloon, 
Geo. M. Shingle, who was also a witness of the tragedy, 
Isaac Brown, who arrested the prisoner, Patrick H. 
Smith, H. H. Pitkins and Ira Ford. The last three were 
introduced on behalf of- defendant to prove his character 
as a peaceable man. The evidence was all in accordance 
with the facts of the tragedy as reported, except that 
considerable time was consumed in eliciting opinions of 
witnesses respecting the character of both Wild Bill and 
his murderer, and of course a great variety of opin- 
ions were expressed. 

After the testimony was concluded, the prisoner was 
asked if he desired to make any statement. 

"Yes," was his response, "I have a few words to 
say," and stepping down from the perch on which he 
had been sitting into the auditorium, he placed one hand 
inside the front opening of his woolen shirt, and throw- 
ing back his head in an imperious manner, delivered him- 
self as follows : " Well, men, I have but few words to 
say. Wild Bill killed my brother, and I killed him. 
Wild Bill threatened to kill me if I ever crossed his path. 
I am not sorry for what I done ; if I had to, I would do 
the same thing over again." He then returned to his 
place on the stage. 

The prosecuting attorney, instead of making an open- 
ing argument, used the time in bringing out the testi- 
mony of a number of persons who swore that Wild Bill 
had been much abused and a reputation given him for 
atrocious deeds which he never deserved ; that in every 
instance when he killed any one the act had always been 
declared as justifiable by every fair-minded person. 



196 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Judge Miller, the defendant's counsel, than followed, 
making a very able appeal in behalf of his client ; though 
not a scintilla of evidence had been produced showing 
that Wild Bill had killed McCall's brother, yet he used 
the assertion made by the prisoner with telling effect. 
He eloquently enlarged on the intention of the defendant, 
who, as he asserted, had not considered the act as mur- 
der, but a just revenge for the killing of his brother ; 
that Bill's dexterity in the use of firearms rendered it 
impossible for the prisoner to meet his victim ' ' on the 
square," as such an attempt would have been almost 
equal to suicide. In addition to this kind of argument 
the Judge closed with the following appeal to the jury : 
"Men, comrades, you have been chosen to decide the 
guilt and punishment of one of your own companions ; 
look upon the honest countenance of this poor boy who 
is being tried for his life because he struck down the 
assassin of a dearly beloved brother ; note, particularly, 
that unflinching and innocent eye, which could not possi- 
bly belong to a man who could do any wrong," and con- 
tinued for nearly half an hour in coining similar extrava- 
gant qualifications which were a very parody on the brute 
who was on trial ; or as a correspondent who was present 
at the trial said, in his comments on the Judge's 
panegyric, "the eye, the face, and in fact everything 
about the prisoner, denoted villainy and iniquity as an 
innate part of his nature." 

The Judge certainly deserved credit for making so able 
an effort when there was no real basis upon which to rest 
a valid defense. 

Col. May made the closing argument on behalf of the 
prosecution, and those who knew him best declared it 
the ablest speech of his life. After rehearsing the facts 
of the case he declared that " if this be not murder then 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 197 

there never was murder committed. The deceased in 
his bloody winding-sheet, from his mountain grave, de- 
manded that a proper punishment be meted out to his 
villainous assassin." He called attention to the fact that 
no testimony had been adduced to show that Wild Bill 
had ever done a single unlawful act, but contended that 
in every instance where he had shed human blood that 
he was justifiable in so doing, and that no evidence had 
been submitted to show that he had threatened the life 
of the prisoner. " It is strange," said the Colonel, "if 
the jn'isoner has been living for years with a sworn deter- 
mination to kill Wild Bill, that only two days ago he 
should have been pleasantly engaged playing cards with 
him." He appealed for justice in the name of law and 
civilization, and begged the people not to suffer such an 
atrocious and unprovoked crime to go unpunished lest 
the barbaric code of the Indians become the arbiter of 
disputes. 

The trial was not concluded until six o'clock in the 
evening, at which time the case was given to the jury, 
and they repaired to a wing of the theatre to prepare 
their verdict. As was afterward ascertained, when the 
jury first voted there were eleven for acquittal and one 
for conviction. Some debate then followed among 
them, when another juror proposed that the prisoner be 
fined in the sum of twenty dollars and then released, or 
be committed until the fine should be paid. After an 
hour and thirty minutes of discussion the jury came to a 
compromise conclusion, and when they returned into 
court, which remained in session awaiting a verdict, the 
foreman handed to the clerk their finding, which read as 
follows : 

" We, the jurors, find the prisoner, Mr. John McCall, 
not guilty. 

" Charles Whitehead, Foreman." 



198 HEROES OE THE PLAINS. 

The prisoner was immediately released, and some few 
who sanctioned this endorsement of one of the foulest, 
premeditated and utterly indefensible murders ever com- 
mitted, had the audacity to congratulate McCall on his 
acquittal. Thus ended this self-constituted farcical 
court, and the citizens who attended the trial at once 
went to their homes and cleaned up their weapons. If 
the society of Deadwood permitted one man to slaughter 
another with impunity in the manner McCall had killed 
Wild Bill, then every person in the place recognized the 
overshadowing importance of being prepared for emer- 
gencies. 



CHAPTER XVLTI. 



After the inquest on the remains of Wild Bill the 
body was given in charge of Charle}^ Utter (Colorado 
Charley) whose friendship for the dead man had existed 
for many years. A bier, or litter, was made by laying 
some boards across two poles, on which the body was 
placed and carried by a procession of friends across tho 
creek to Uttcr's camp. Here the final preparations fof 
the funeral were made, and that too with a hand which 
took this last means of demonstrating the depth of its 
friendship. Charley was much affected by the death of 
his old comrade, and like a true brother during life, his 
love and admiration intensified when death severed the 
bond of companionship. 

A romantic and beautiful arbor was constructed at the 
foot of the most majestic trees in the gulch by Utter's 
camp, under which the body of Wild Bill was laid, while 
a fine coffin was ordered, and the following funeral notice 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 199 

was printed .and distributed among all the miners of the 
district : 

FUNERAL NOTICE. 

Died in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2d, 1876, 
from the effects of a pistol shot, J. B. Hickok, (Wild 
Bill ) , formerly of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Funeral services 
will be held at Charley Utter' s camp on Thursday after- 
noon, August 3d, 1876, at three o'clock, p. m. 

All are respectfully invited to attend. 

At the appointed hour, notwithstanding the large num- 
ber who were in attendance at the trial, fully fifty friends 
and admirers of the deceased assembled at Utter' s camp 
ready to pay the last rites of respect to him whose life 
had been such a fitful dream. The mortal remains of 
Wild Bill now reposed in a handsome coffin mounted 
with silver ornaments and covered with black cloth. The 
body was handsomely dressed in the best clothes obtain- 
able in Deadwood. A more complete picture of perfect 
rest and resignation was never seen than that which the 
dead scout presented. The gaping wound in his cheek 
had been deftly closed and was scarcely noticeable ; his 
long, beautiful, chestnut hair lay parted evenly across 
his forehead and fell gracefully over his broad shoulders. 
The face was a study for any beholder ; instead of mani- 
festing the agony of death, there was nothing but peace 
and contentment on his features ; the lips were slightly 
parted as if still smiling at the last joke which was pass- 
ing around the table when the fatal shot was fired. Be- 
side him, in his coffin, lay his carbine rifle that he had 
carried for many years, and was now to be buried with 
him according to a wish he had often expressed. 

A grave had been prepared in a most romantically 

lovely spot on the mountain side, over which spread the 

foliage of redolent pine trees, and around which was a 

profusion of wild flowers, freighting the air with deli- 
12 



200 



HEROES OF THE TLAINS. 



cious perfumes. On every side, making the landscape 
replete with nature's grandest effects, were towering 
boulders, from between the crevices of which peeped out 
fragrant sweet wiiliams and violets, mingling their in- 
cense with the concert of warbling voices in the branches 
overhead. It was such a spot as the brave sleeper would 
have selected for his sepulcher, for he loved the forest 
solitudes, and made companionship with the wilds of 
the wilderness. 

Here, under the bright arch of an auspicious heaven, 
under the arbor nature had prepared with lavish hand, 
Wild Bill was laid in that sleep which, perchance, 
is eternal waking, and with him were all his animosities, 
his desires for revenge, his ambitions, and his expecta- 
tions. 

A clergyman read an impressive funeral service over 
the grave, after which the earth's warm, virgin sod, full 
of bursting seeds and growing flowers, soon covered the 
remains of the greatest scout, spy and fighter any nation, 
perhaps, ever produced. 

A largo stump stood at the head of the grave, and 
upon this was rudeh r carved the following : 

" A brave man, the victim of an assassin, J. B. Hickok 
(Wild Bill), aged 48 years ;* murdered by Jack McCall, 
August 2, 1876." 

The funeral ceremonies having been completed, those 
who had assisted in the last services went directly to the 
1 heater building where the trial of McCall was still in 
progress. After hearing the verdict read and seeing the 
murderer liberated, California Joe, an old friend of 
Bill's, who chanced to be in Deadwood when the assas- 
sination occurred, stepped up to McCall and said: 



*At the time of his death Wild Bill's age was 39 years, 10 months and 12 
days. 



LIFE OF WILD RILL. 201 

" Look a here, young chap, these here regions haint very 
healthy for you jist now ; so you'd better lose no time in 
clearing outen these diggins, eryer skin won't hold water 
no morn'n a camp sieve inside o' twenty-four hours." 

At night several of the murdered man's friends held a 
secret meeting, at which it was decided to lynch McCall, 
but their plans were frustrated by the assassin having 
taken California Joe's warning, as he found the climate 
suddenly very oppressive and injurious. 

The following beautiful poem was written by Capt. 
Jack Crawford, the poet scout, one of Wild Bill's most 
intimate comrades, a sketch of whose life will be found 
in the latter part of this work. It was dedicated to Col- 
orado Charley and commented on by the press generally 
as one of the finest specimens of Western poetic senti- 
mei?* ever published : 

BURIAL OF WILD BILL. 

[Written for the N. Y. Clipper.] 

Under the sod in the prairie land 

We have laid him down to rest, 
With many a tear from the sad, rough throng, 

And the friends he loved the best ; 
And many a heartfelt sigh was heard 

As over the sward we trod, 
And many an eye was filled with tears 

As we covered him with the sod. 

Under the sod in the prairie land 

We have laid the s^ood and true — 
An honest heart and a noble scout 

Has bade us a last adieu. 
No more his silvery voice will ring, 

His spirit has gone to God ; 
Around his faults let charity cling, 

While we cover him with the sod. 



202 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Under the sod in the land of gold 
We have laid the fearless Bill ; 

We called him Wild, yet a little child 
Could bend his iron will. 

With generous heart he freely gave 
To the poorly clad, unshod — 

Think of it, pards — of his noble traits- 
While you cover him with the sod. 

Under the sod in Deadwood Gulch 

You have laid his last remains ; 
No more his manly form will hail 

The Red Man on the plains. 
And, Charley, may Heaven bless you ! 

You gave him a " bully good send ;" 
Bill was a friend to you, pard, 

And you were his last, best friend. 

You buried him 'ueaththe old pine tree, 

In that little world of ours, 
His trusty rifle by his side — 

His grave all strewn with flowers ; 
His manly form in sweet repose, 

That lovely silken hair — 
I tell you, pard, it was a sight, 

That face so white and fair I 

And while he sleeps beneath the sod 

His murderer goes free, 
Released by a perjured, gaining set 

Who'd murder you and me — 
Whose coward hearts dare never meet 

A brave man on the square. 
Well, pard, they'll find a warmer clime 

Than they ever found out there. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 203 

Hell is full of just such men ; 

And if Bill is above to-clay, 
The Almighty will have enough to do 

To keep him from going away — > 
That is, from making a little scout 

To the murderer' s home below ; 
And if old Peter will let him out, 

He can clean out the ranche, I know. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Jack McCall left Deadwood on the day following his 
acquittal and went direct to Custer City. Within a 
short time after his appearance in that town, unable to 
restrain his braggadocio inclination, he told certain per- 
sons how he had killed Wild Bill, and boasted of the 
deed as a most commendable act. He was at once ar- 
rested b} r a Deput} r U. S. Marshal, and at a preliminary 
hearing, Judge Blair decided to hold the prisoner and 
send him to Yankton for trial. C. W. Bramel appeared 
for the defendant in the first hearing, and Attorney- 
General Jenkins prosecuted. McCall was taken to 
Yankton, without delay, by Marshal Balcombe, and 
there held until the U. S. District Court sat in January 
following, when the prisoner was put upon trial. The 
witnesses for the prosecution nearly all appeared without 
special summons, as they were anxious to see a tardy 
justice done at last. 

The trial continued but little more than one day, and 
as the testimony was a repetition of that elicited by the 
impromptu court at Deadwood, a verdict of guilty was 
returned almost without deliberation, and the Justice, 



204 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

after a few days, passed sentence of death upon McCall, 
the time of his execution being fixed for March 1st, 1877. 

Notwithstanding' the deep-dyed villainy of Wild Bill's 
murderer, he still had some friends who exerted all the 
influence they could command to save him from the fate 
he so richly deserved. Petitions for respite and com- 
mutation of sentence were freely circulated, which, ob- 
taining some signatures, were forwarded to the President, 
hoping to secure the Executive's interference ; but they 
all failed. 

When the time for the execution arrived Yankton 
presented a very animated appearance, as people came 
from man}' miles around to witness the first official 
hanging in Dakota Territory. 

Father Doxacher, a Catholic priest, visited the fated 
prisoner and administered spiritual nerve to fortify him 
for the scene about to be enacted. A scaffold having 
been erected on the open prairie about two miles north of 
Yankton, at nine o'clock on the morning of March 1st, 
the prisoner, priest and guards entered a closed carriage 
and drove to the place of execution. No time was wasted 
in preliminaries, as everything had been completed be- 
forehand. McCall, getting out of the carriage, ascended 
the steps of the scaffold in company with the priest, and 
from the platform surveyed for a moment the upturned 
laces of the multitude before him, but uttered never a 
word. The priest, shrouded in robes of white, knelt 
with the prisoner on the scaffold and repeated the death 
litany while McCall engaged in earnest prayer, kissing 
the uplifted crucifix as he arose. 

At twenty minutes pasi ten o'clock the black cap was 
adjusted over the head of the condemned man and as the 
marshal was fixing the noose about his neck, McCall re^ 
quested him to " draw it tight, and make no mistake." 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 



205 



The next moment the trap was sprung and as the body 
shot downward McCall was heard to exclaim, "My 
God !" which were his last words. Throughout all this 
most dreadful experience McCall never exhibited the least 
trepidation, dying with that stolid indifference which he 
manifested when addressing the jury that tried him in the 
Deadwood court. 




Execution of Jack McCall. 

On the evening following the execution of McCall, U. 
S. Marshal Burdick received the following; letter: 

Louisville, Ky., February 25th, 1877. 
To the Marshal of Yankton. 

Dear Sir : — I saw in the morning papers a piece about 
the sentence of the murderer of Wild Bill, Jack McCall. 
There was a young man of the name of John McCall left 
here about six years ago, who has not been heard from 
for the last three years. He has a father, mother and 
three sisters living here in Louisville, who are very un- 
easy about him since they heard about the murder of 
Mild Bill. If you can send us any information about 
him we would be very thankful to you. 



206 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

This John McCall is about twenty-five years old ; has 
light hair, inclined to curl, and one eye crossed. I can- 
not say about his height as he was not grown when he 
left here. Please write as soon as convenient, as we are 
very anxious to hear from you. 

Very respectfully, 

Mary A. McCall. 

This letter was from the sister of the man who had 
just paid the penalty of his crime, and with what feel- 
ings of sadness she received the marshal's reply can well 
be imagined. 

One version of the origin of the difficulty which cul- 
minated in the assassination of Wild Bill has been given 
so repeatedly by correspondents that, as it requires but a 
few words to relate, it is here repeated. 

Jack McCall, who was generally regarded as a gamb- 
ling sharp by the people of Deadwood, challenged Bill 
to a game of poker. As the latter was particularly fond' 
of this sport an immediate acceptance was the result. 
The game lasted for some hours, to Bill's great advan- 
tage, until McCall's money having become exhausted he 
overbet his hand. Bill in calling the bet discovered that 
McCall had only $7.50 to make good his bet of $10. 
He mildly remonstrated with him by saying: "You 
don't want to overbet your money; that's no way to 
play poker." McCall then admitted that he had not an- 
other cent, whereupon Bill gave him $5.00 with which to 
pay his lodging and breakfast, and thus the two separa- 
ted without a word indicative of harsh feelings. This 
version is generally accepted as furnishing the sole rea- 
son for the murder. 

With regard to the killing of McCall's brother by 
Wild Bill in Hays City, as was claimed by McCall, the 
story is evidently without foundation. All the serious 
difficulties Bill had while at Hays City, or elsewhere, 



LIFE OF WILD BILL,. 207 

have been faithfully recorded in the preceding pages, and 
unless Jack Strawhan was McCall's brother there cannot 
be even the remotest suspicion that the assassination was 
prompted by the motives claimed. In addition to this, 
McCall never made any attempt to prove that his brother 
had been killed by Wild Bill, nor does the letter of 
Mary A. McCall, the sister, intimate any reason for her 
brother's deed, as she certainly would have done had her 
brother fallen a victim to Wild Bill's vengeance. 



CHAPTER XX. 



Deadwood improved so rapidly during the latter years 
of the seventies that it became necessary to remove the 
bodies which lay in the first grave-yard. Building after 
building had sprung up on the hill sides ; the primitive 
forest fell before the axe of progress, and all natural 
beauties which originally surrounded Wild Bill's grave 
were torn away to give place for improvements. 

On the third day of August, 1879, Charley Utter and 
Louis Shoenfield, old friends of Bill's, keeping ever 
green the memory of their departed comrade, having 
decided to give their precious dead a more fitting resting 
place, repaired to the grave and with heads uncovered, 
exhumed the remains of Wild Bill. Upon removing the 
cofiin lid, assembled friends of the deceased were sur- 
prised to note the few changes that had taken place in 
the features. Save a very slightly discernible shrinkage 
of the jaws and eyes and a darker color of the skin, 
Wild Bill lay resting, after his three years' sleep, just as 
he was laid away. The same smile lingered on his lips, 
lighting up a countenance of such perfect repose that the 



208 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

sleeper seemed moved by some pleasant dream. His 
rifle still lay beside him in thorough preservation, not 
even a speck of rust being perceptible on the polished 
barrel. 

Upon lifting the remains from the grave, an extra- 
ordinary weight was detected, which was unexplainable 
until, in clipping off a lock of hair, Charley Utter's hand 
came in contact with the face of his dead friend, when 
a singular hardness of the flesh was felt. A closer ex- 
amination then revealed the fact that, though the body 
retained a natural appearance, yet it was in process of 
petrifaction. At the time of death "Wild Bill's weight 
was about one hundred and seventy-five pounds, but at 
the exhumation the body weighed nearly three hundred 
pounds. 

After the remains were exposed for several hours to 
the gaze of numerous friends, they were conveyed to 
Mount Moriah Cemetery, where a lot and grave had 
been prepared by Charley Utter, and there given a 
>:id burial. A handsome Italian head-stone was also 
erected at the head of the grave by Mr. Utter, upon 
which the following inscription was engraved : 

WILD BILL (J. B. Hickok), 
Killed by the Assassin, Jack McCall, in Deadwood, 
August 2d, 187G. Pard, Ave will meet again in the 
Happy Hunting Grounds, to part no more. Good-bye. 

Colorado Charley. 

Here let the brave heart rest in the solitude of a fron- 
tier sepulcher ; resl from the strife with which his life 
was so familiar ; rest from th<> labors of a sturdy pio- 
neer. The highway which he blazed by indomitable 
bravery and consecrated with the most sacred sacrifice he 
eould give, is still followed by the advancing hosts of an 
expanding empire, dispelling primeval sounds and touch- 



LIFE OF MILD BILL. 



209 



ing the virgin forests with the magic wand of a perfect 
civilization. The birds which carol their morning and 
evening concerts over his grave are drifting westward and 
will soon be seen no more, while in their stead will be 
heard the whir and hum of a busy life. The rough 
sounds and strife of a border settlement will give place 
to the sweet home melodies of cultured maidens, and 
coming generation, like repeating waves which wash out 
the footsteps from the beach, will destroy the landmarks 




of the early settlers and point to Wild Bill's grave as the 
spot where sleeps a hero-pioneer ; whose heart in life 
was gentle as a child's prayer, and }^et brave as God 
could make it. An appreciation of the services which 
this noble scout rendered the builders of a Western em- 
pire belongs to those of unborn generations. " No man 
is appreciated until he is dead." 

The following poem, another tribute of friendship 



210 HEROES OF TITE TLAINS. 

from Captain Jack Crawford, who delights in embower- 
ing the memory of his dead comrade with the most fra- 
grant of poetic garlands, will appropriately conclude this 
history of Wild Bill's death and burial : 

WILD BILL'S GKAVE. 

[Written for the Virginia Evening Chronicle, August 4, 1877.] 
BY HIS PARD, CAPTAIN JACK. 

On the side of the hill between Whitewood and Deadwood, 
At the foot of a pine stump, there lies a lone grave, 
Environed with rocks, and with pine trees and redwood, 
Where the wild roses bloom over the breast of the brave. 
A mantle of brushwood the greensward encloses ; 
The green boughs are waving far up overhead ; 
While under the sod and the flow'rets reposes 
The brave and the dead. 

Did I know him in life? Yes, as brother knows brothel 
I knew him and loved him — 'twas all I could give, 
My love. But the fact is we loved one another, 
And either would die that the other might live. 
Rough in his ways? Yes, but kind and good-hearted ; 
There wasn't a flaw in the heart of Wild Bill, 
And well I remember the day that he started 
That graveyard on top of the hill. 

A good scout? I reckon there wasn't his equal, 
Both Fremont and Custer could vouch for that fact. 
Quick as chain-lightning with rille or pistol — 
And Custer said, " Bill nnur backed ! " 
He called me his " kid " — Buffalo Bill was his " boy " — 
And in fact he knew more than us both : 
And, though we have shared both in sorrow and joy, 
Nary an oath. 

And now let me show you the good that was in him — 
The letters ho wrote to his Agnes — his wife. 
Why, a look or a smile, one kind word could win him. 
Hear part of this letter— the last of this life: 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 211 

"Agnes Darling: Tf such should be that we never meet 
again, while firing nay last shot I will gently breathe the name 
of my wife — my Agnes — and with a kind wish even for my 
enemies, I will make the plunge and try to swim to the other 
shore." 

Oh, Charity ! come fling your mantle about him, 
Judge him not harshly — he sleeps 'neath the sod ; 
Custer, brave Custer ! was lonely without him, 
Even with God. 

Charge, comrades, charge ! see young Custer ahead 

His charger leaps forth, almost flying. 

One volley! and half his comrades are dead — 

The other half fighting and dying ! 

Let us hope while their dust is reposing beneath 

The dirge-singing pines in the mountains, 

That Christ has crowned each with an evergreen wreath 

And giv'n them to drink from his fountains. 

In the foregoing chapters the writer has described, as 
he believes, every important adventure in Wild Bill's 
life ; the commonplace incidents, however, have been 
omitted , such as inconsequential personal difficulties ; 
long and tedious journeys ; his career as a pony-express 
rider ; overland trips to Salt Lake, and such other events 
as happen to nearly all men engaged in frontier service. 
His life was so full of daring acts that to record the or- 
dinary incidents with the extraordinary adventures in 
which he participated would destroy the interest and im- 
pression the writer has sought to produce in this humble 
effort. 

But before concluding this biography of the greatest 
scout and fighter, perhaps, of whose life history furnishes 
any authentic record, it is important to briefly describe 
Wild Bill in his social relations, removed from the influ- 
ences which called for an exercise of his recklessly brave 
spirit. 

Socially, among those of cultivated taste and refine- 



212 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ment, Wild Bill was very agreeable company, laying 
aside at once eveiy uncouth habft and showing the in- 
nate gentlemanly qualities of which he was possessed. 
He had but few intimate friends, the most prominent of 
whom were W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), and Capt. Jack 
Crawford, whose lives ran in the same channels as his 
own ; and Dr. Joshua Thome tfnd Capt. E. W. Kings- 
bury, both of Kansas City, among the limited number of 
his associates in the more peaceful walks of life. 

Dr. Thorne was Bill's physician for many years and to 
him he confided his most sacred secrets; Kingsbury was 
a Captain in the Second U. S. Cavalry during the time 
that Bill was acting as guide for the regiment through the 
Indian campaigns, and it was in this service that they be- 
came very intimate. Wild Bill acted the part of an 
elder brother to Buffalo Bill and the two were so warmly 
attached that an insult would have been resented much 
more promptly by one when directed against the other 
than if pressed upon himself. Their relations were those 
of devoted comradeship and each was gladdened by 
praise bestowed upon the other. At times harsh words 
might pass between them, but each would submit to any 
language offered by the other without thinking of retali- 
ation, while the slightest rebuke from anyone else would 
be sure to precipitate ;i row. 

Wild Bill had no well defined religious belief, though 
his convictions, judging from assertions he had been 
heard to make to his best friends, were those of a Spir- 
itualist. To Dr. Thorne he asserted that, when sur- 
rounded by imminent dangers, he was influenced by 
spiritual agencies who kept him cool while they discon- 
certed his enemies. It was to this influence he ascribed 
his presence of mind on the most trying occasions. 

Another very singular chnraeteristic Bill possessed was 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 213 

that of excessive grief following all his fatal encounters. 
While never directty evading a fight, he always gave 
way to great sorrow for its consequences. Nearly all 
his victims were given proper burial at his expense, and 
Bill was the chief mourner at all the funerals when he 
had furnished the corpse. After his great fight at Rock 
Creek he learned that Jim McCandlas had left a widow 
with several children in destitute circumstances. From 
that time until Mrs. McCandlas' death he contributed to 
her support, sending remittances of money whenever he 
was in condition to do so. 

Dr. Thome informed l^ie writer that he had removed 
eleven bullets from the body of Wild Bill, nearly all of 
which were shot into him at the Bock Creek fight, but 
that during all of the painful operations Bill gave ex- 
pression to none other than sympathetic words for the 
ferocious enemies he had slain in that memorable en- 
counter. 

Though living the life of a bachelor Avithin a few 
months of his death, Bill was nevertheless excessively fond 
of children, and so great was his influence among the 
smallest infants that he could pacify the most peevish 
ones better than a mother. 

America has given birth to many a skillful marksman, 
but there can be no question that Wild Bill was the most 
expert pistol shot that this or any other country ever 
produced. To him this accomplishment was a gift of 
nature, w x hich he greatly improved by years of persistent 
practice. Nearly all the leading magazines and news- 
papers have published elaborate articles descriptive of his 
marvelous accuracy and skill in the use of a pistol, but 
it is not inappropriate in this connection to recall some of 
the excellencies of his pistol practice. 

On one occasion, during his residence in Kansas City, 



214 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

he gave Dr. Thorne examples of his wonderful shooting. 
It was on a sultry Sabbath afternoon, when the two were 
sitting out in the side yard connected with the Doctor's 
residence engaged in desultory conversation. A flock of 
chickens were strolling about the place, among the num- 
ber being a large rooster whose propensity was for chas- 
ing every other gallinaceous male off the place. Dr. 
Thorne having informed Bill of the troublesome qualities 
of the fowl, expressed a wish that, as it was too old to 
eat, some one would kill it out of compassion for the 
other male chanticleers. Thereupon Wild Bill remarked : 

"I'll bet you five dollars, Doctor, that I can cut the 
rooster's throat with my derringer, at thirty paces, with- 
out breaking his neck or touching the head or body." 

"You can't do it," responded the Doctor, " and I'll 
take the bet." The chicken was chased to the required 
distance, and while it was still walking Bill raised his 
pistol and fired, without even bringing the weapon to his 
eye. The rooster ran a short distance and then drop- 
ped and fluttered about until it died. Upon examina- 
tion it was found that the chicken's throat and windpipe 
had been cut with the same cleverness as if a knife had 
been used, while its neck was evidently not touched. 

This shot, surely as perfect as could be made, so as- 
tonished the Doctor that he claimed it was an accident. 
Bill then, to convince him that it was not, fired several 
times from the two cartridge derringers he carried, first 

O © ' 

at small objects and then at sparrows in the trees; each 
shot went directly to the mark, not a single miss being 
made. The Doctor was satisfied. 

Among the great number of fancy shots Bill was accus 
tomed to make in amusing his friends, was one driving 

the cork through the neck of a bottle and knocking tho 

© © 

bottom out without breaking the neck. This shot was 
also performed at a distance of thirty paces. 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 215 

For a lucrative pastime, at which he won no incon- 
siderable amount of money, Bill would get up a shooting 
match and then take bets of from one to ten dollars that 
he could shoot a hole through a silver dime at a distance 
of fifty paces. This seemed so utterly impossible that 
there was but little difficulty in getting a number of such 
bets, until he demonstrated his ability to perform the act 
nine times out of ten. Of course, at such a distance, it is 
almost impossible to see so small an object as a silver 
dime, but this difficulty was readily overcome by placing 
the money in such a position that the sun's rays would 
be gathered on its surface, thus presenting a brilliant 
spot for a target. 

In rifle shooting Bill was also an adept, but at short 
spaces he was much more dextrous with the pistol. In 
using the former weapon he took deliberate aim, while 
with the later he fired at seeming random, the bullet, 
apparently, going straight to the mark of its own voli- 
tion. 

In the early part of 1864, during his service as a scout 
under Gen. Daviess, as has already been related in chap- 
ter V, Wild Bill came into possession of a beautiful 
young mare to which he gave the name " Black Nell." 
This animal was a filly with a pedigree which it is to be 
regretted Bill never learned, as she was captured in a fight 
with three bushwhackers, but her exquisite beauty fur- 
nished a true index of her lofty descent. She was black 
as a raven and full of spirit ; her neck arched with the 
grace of a rainbow ; her eye was soft and clear as a vir- 
gin's, and her limbs were as symmetrical as those of the 
trinity of graces. During all his leisure, Bill gave at- 
tention to the care and training of this animal until at 
length she became the wonder of all who witnessed the 
performances through which he so frequently put her. 

13 



216 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

He first trained the mare to obey his commands given by 
whistles ; to everyone except Bill she appeared fierce and 
unmanageable, but to him she was the very soul of sa- 
gacity and docility. Whether grazing, feeding at the 
trough, or lying down, Bill had only to blow a single 
whistle and she would come running to him with the 
eagerness of a dog anxious to greet his master. A snap 
of his fingers would send her galloping away, but the 
whistle would always cause her immediate return. 

Another trick Bill taught his beautiful mare afterward 
proved the means of saving his life. Riding her at the 
swiftest speed he had only to drop his hand so that the 
mare could see the act, and instantly she would stop and 
prostrate herself on the ground, remaining in that po- 
sition until she was bidden to rise again. On the occa- 
sion referred to, where this trick saved his life, Bill was 
riding through the northern part of Greene county, Mo., 
on a scouting tour. While passing through the tall prai- 
rie grass he was pursued by a body of bushwhackers. 
After fleeing before them for several miles he crossed a 
low piece of ground which temporarily hid him from the 
sight of his enemies. In this place Bill made a turn and 
moving his hand before Black Nell she instantly dropped 
down and remained perfectly quiet while the pursuing 
party rode by within fifty yards without discovering him. 

During a visit of Wild Bill to Springfield, Mo., in 
1867, meeting with many old friends, he became decid- 
edly convivial under the influences usually indulged in 
that town. He had his famous mare with him, and after 
explaining her good qualities and sense, offered to wager 
treats for the crowd that he could make Black Nell leap 
onto a billiard table and from that perch drink a quart of 
whisky. Some one accepted the bet, chiefly because they 
desired to see the act performed. Bill at once removed 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 217 

the bridle and saddle from Nell, and going into a saloon 
which contained an old billiard table, told the mare to 
follow him. Nell, obedient as a poodle, walked so closely 
behind her master that her nose rested on his shoulder. 
Approaching the billiard table, he bade the mare mount. 
Nell at once reared up and deposited her forelegs on the 
table, but it was only after a long and persistent effort 
that she could raise her hind feet so high ; in fact the 
strain came near disabling her for life ; but she accom- 
plished the feat, and then drank the whisky with as much 
relish as her master ever exhibited. 

This wonderful mare, famous among the most cel- 
ebrated horses of America, died near Kansas City in 
1869. Wild Bill manifested the most poignant grief at 
the loss of his sagacious friend and buried her with ap- 
propriate funeral ceremonies, and afterward made many 
pilgrimages to her grave. 



Having now discharged my duties as biographer of 
Wild Bill, and given to him the character of a brave, 
honest and true man, worthy a position in the annals of 
American frontier history, lest the reader should ascribe 
to me undue admiration for the man whom I have 
sought to justly hcroize, I will close this history with two 
published opinions of men capable of judging his true 
character. The first, as here given, is from a writer in 
Scribner's Magazine for October, 1876 : 

" * * * I had been in town only a few moments 
when I met Charley Utter, better known in the West as 
'Colorado Charley,' to whom I had a letter of introduc- 
tion, and who at once invited me to share his camp while 
I remained in the region. 



218 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

"On our way to his tent, we met J. B. Hickok, 'Wild 
Bill,' the hero of a hundred battles. Bill was Utter's 
'pardner,' and I was introduced at once. Of course I 
had heard of him, the greatest scout in the West, but I 
was not prepared to find such a man as he proved to be. 

" Most of the Western scouts do not amount to much. 
They do a great deal in the personal reminiscence way, 
but otherwise they are generally of the class described as 
' frauds.' In Wild Bill I found a man who talked 
little and had done a great deal. He was about six feet 
two inches in height, and very powerfully built ; his face 
was intelligent ; his hair blonde, and falling in long ring- 
lets upon his broad shoulders ; his eyes, blue and pleas- 
ant, looked one straight in the face when he talked ; and 
his lips, thin and compressed, were only partly hidden 
by a straw-colored moustache. His costume was a cu- 
riously blended union of the habiliments of the border- 
man and the drapery of the fashionable dandy. Beneath 
the skirts of his elaborately embroidered buckskin coat 
gleamed the handles of two silver-mounted revolvers, 
which were his constant companions. His voice was low 
and musical, but through its hesitation I could catch a 
ring of self-reliance and consciousness of strength. Yet 
he was the most courteous man I had met on the plains. 
On the following day I asked to sec him use a pistol, and 
Ik; assented. At his request 1 tossed a tomato can about 
fifteen feet into the air, both his pistols being in his belt 
when it left my hand. He drew one of them and fired 
two bullets through the tin can before it struck the 
ground. Then he followed it along, firing as he went, 
until both weapons were empty. You have heard the 
expression ' quick as lightning.' Well, that will describe 
Wild Bill. He was noted all over the country for rapid- 
ity of motion, courage and certainty of aim. Wherever 



LIFE OF WJLD BILL. 219 

he went he controlled the people around him, and many 
a quarrel has been settled by his simple announcement, 
'This has gone far enough.' Early in the forenoon of 
my third day in Deadwood word was brought over to 
camp that he had been killed." 

The following is extracted from Gen. G. A. Custer's 
" Life on the Plains " Wild Bill was for a long time 
engaged as scout for Gen. Custer, accompanying him in 
several important campaigns against the Indians, and 
was repeatedly specially mentioned in the army reports 
for gallantry : 

"Among the white scouts were numbered some of the 
most noted of their class. The most prominent man 
among them was Wild Bill, whose highly varied career 
was made the subject of an illustrated sketch in one of 
the popular monthly periodicals a few years ago. Wild 
Bill was a strange character, just the one which a novelist 
might gloat over. He was a plainsman in every sense of 
the word, yet unlike any other of his class. In person 
he was about six feet one in height, straight as the 
straightest of the warriors whose implacable foe he was ; 
broad shoulders, well-formed chest and limbs, and a face 
strikingly handsome ; a sharp, clear, blue eye, which 
stared you straight in the face when in conversation ; a 
finely-shaped nose, inclined to be aquiline ; a well-turned 
mouth, with lips only partially concealed by a handsome 
moustache. His hair and Complexion were those of a 
perfect blonde. The former was worn in uncut ringlets 
falling carelessly over his powerfully formed shoulders. 
Add to this figure a costume blending the immaculate 
neatness of the dandy with the extravagant taste and 
style of the frontiersman, and you have Wild Bill, then 
as now the most famous scout on the plains. 

" Whether on foot or on horseback, he was oue of the 



220 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

most perfect types of physical manhood I ever saw. Of 
his courage their could be no question ; it had been 
brought to the test on too many occasions to admit of a 
doubt. His skill in the use of the rifle and pistol was 
unerring ; while his deportment was exactly the opposite 
of Avhat might be expected from a man of his surround- 
ings. It was entirely free from all bluster or bravado. 
He never spoke of himself unless requested to do so. 
His conversation, strange to say, never bordered either 
on the vulgar or blasphemous. His influence among the 
frontiersmen was unbounded, his word was law ; and 
many are the personal quarrels and disturbances which he 
has checked among his comrades by his simple announce- 
ment that * this has gone far enough,' if need be fol- 
lowed by the ominous warning that when persisted in or 
renewed the quarreler ' must settle it with me.' Wild 
Bill is anything but a quarrelsome man ; yet no one but 
himself can enumerate the many conflicts in which he 
has been engaged, and which have almost invariably re- 
sulted in the death of his adversary. I have a personal 
knowledge of at least half a dozen men whom he has at 
various times killed, one of these being at the time a 
member of my command. Others have been severely 
wounded, yet he always escaped unhurt. On the plains 
every man openly carries his belt with its invariable ap- 
pendages, knife and revolver, often two of the latter. 
Wild Bill always carried two handsome ivory-handled re- 
volvers of the large size ; he was never seen without 
them. Where this is the common custom, brawls or per- 
sonal difficulties are seldom if ever settled by blows. 
The quarrel is not from a word to a blow, but from a word 
to the revolver, and he who can draw and fire first is the 
best man. No civil law reaches him ; none is applied for. 
In fact there is no law recognized beyond the frontier 



LIFE OF WILD BILL. 221 

but that of 'might makes right.' Should death result 
from the quarrel, as it -usually does, no coroner's jury is 
impanneled to learn the cause of death, and the survivor 
is not arrested. But instead of these old-fashioned pro- 
ceedings, a meeting of citizens takes place, the survivor 
is requested to be present when the circumstances of the 
homicide are inquired into, and the unfailing verdict of 
'justifiable,' ' self-defence,' etc., is pronounced, and the 
law stands vindicated. That justice is often deprived of 
a victim there is not a doubt. Yet in all of the many af- 
fairs of this kind in which Wild Bill has performed a 
part, and which have come to my knowledge, there is not 
a single instance in which the verdict of twelve fair- 
minded men would not be pronounced in his favor. 

' ' That the even tenor of his way continues to be dis- 
turbed by little events of this description may be inferred 
from an item which has been floating lately through the 
columns of the press, and which states that ' the funeral 
of " Jim Bludso,'' who was killed the other day by Wild 
Bill, took place to-day.' It then adds : ' The funeral 
expenses were borne by Wild Bill ! ' What could be 
more thoughtful than this ? Not only to send a fellow 
mortal out of the world, but to pay the expenses of the 
transit! " 




222 



V 





HON. WM. F. CODY, 

(Buffalo Bill.) 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL 

(Hon. William F. Cody.) 

Relating the Adventures and Incidents in the Ca- 
reer or the Most Famous of Living Plainsmen. 

Comprising Descriptions of his Desperate Encoun- 
ters, Narrow Escapes, Indian Battles, Wonder- 
ful Rides, Great Hunts, and Conquests On 
and Off the Mimic Stage. 



CHAPTER I. 

The peculiarities of American civilization are seen to 
great advantage in the anomalous character of Hon. 
William Frederick Cody, known throughout the Eng- 
lish speaking world as Buffalo Bill. He is the very 
embodiment of diversity, and a representative type of 
the antipodal phases of society ; on the plains and in 
camp he becomes the essence of pioneer hardihood, 
inured to privation, and the exponent of song and story ; 
while in the salons of the aristocracy he is none the 
less a kid-gloved society gallant, versed in all the subtle- 
ties of polished etiquette, full of vivacity and courtly 
witticisms. In short, there is no nature so readily con- 
formable to ail the ways of life as his, and under all cir- 
cumstances there is always a sparkling effervescence of 
spirit about him which can only find comparison in a 
newly opened bottle of extra-dry champagne. These un- 
exampled traits of character will be distinctly evidenced in 

the following history of his singular life and adventures. 
225 



226 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Buffalo Bill was born in a pioneer settlement of Scott 
County, Iowa, on the 26th day of February, 1845. His 
father, whose name was Isaac, was one of the original 
surveyors of Davenport, and a man of strong individu- 
ality, possessing considerable ability and the elements of 
leadership. Opportunities, however, beingfew, Mr. Cody 
had to adapt himself to the pursuits offered, and for two 
or three years he drove a stage coach between Chicago 
and Davenport. 

In 1849 Mr. Cody was influenced by the wonderful 
stories regarding the gold discoveries in California to 
make provisions for the great overland journey, but after 
starting, others who were to accompany him, abandoned 
the enterprise and persuaded him to follow their exam- 
ple. During his residence in Iowa he held the posi- 
tion of Justice of the Peace, and also served one term in 
the Legislature, but having a disposition for adventure 
and delighting in pioneer life, he removed to Kansas in 
1852, settling his family at Weston, Missouri, on the 
farm of his brother Elijah, and then established a trad- 
ing post in the northern part of Leavenworth County, 
Kansas, at Salt Creek Valley, near the Kickapoo Agenc}'. 

At this time Kansas was occupied by numerous tribes 
of Indians, who were settled on reservations, and through 
the territory ran the great highway to California and 
Salt Lake City. In addition to the thousands of gold 
seekers who were passing through Kansas by way of Ft. 
Leavenworth, there were as many more Mormons in their 
hegira from Illinois to found a new temple in which to 
propagate their doctrines. This extensive travel made 
the business of trade on the route a most profitable one. 
But with the caravans were those fractious elements of 
adventurous pioneering, and here little Billy, as Buffalo 
Bill wag then called, first saw the typical Westerner ; 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 227 

with white sombrero, buckskin clothes, long hair, 
inoecasined feet and a belt full of murderous bowies and 
long pistols. But instead of these outre peculiarities im- 
pressing Billy with feelings of trepidation, they inspired 
him with an ambition to become a daring plainsman. 
The rare and skillful feats of horsemanship which he 
daily witnessed bred in him a desire to excel the most 
expert ; and when, at seven years of age, his father gave 
him a pony, the full measure of his happiness had ripen- 
ed, like Jonah's gourd, in a night. Thenceforth his oc- 
cupation was horseback riding, in which pleasurable em- 
ployment he made himself very useful in performing 
necessary journeys in his father's interest. 

Living so near the Kickapoo Indians, Billy soon became 
well acquainted with them, and as they were very friend- 
ly, he, with boyish curiosity, became a constant com- 
panion of some young bucks of the tribe ; in this associ- 
ation he participated in their sports and learned to shoot 
with bow and arrow, throw the lance, and converse in 
their native tongue — all of which accomplishments be- 
came very useful to him in after life. 

In anticipation of the early passage of what was known 
as the " Enabling Act of Kansas Territory," which was 
then pending before Congress, Mr. Cody, in the fall of 
1853, took his family from the farm of his brother and 
settled them at the post in Kansas, where he at once set 
about erecting suitable log buildings. In the succeeding 
winter the act was passed, which opened up the territory 
for settlement, and Mr. Cody immediately pre-empted 
the claim on which he was living. 

Every reader of American history is familiar with the 
disorders which followed close upon the heels of the 
" Enabling Act." Pending its passage the Western 
boundary of Missouri was ablaze with the camp fires of 



228 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

intending settlers. Thousands of families were sheltered 
under the canvas of their ox wagons, impatiently await- 
ing the signal from the Nation announcing the opening 
of the territorial doors to the brawny immigrants, and 
when the news was heralded the waiting host poured 
over the boundary line and fairly deluged the new public 
domain. 

In this rapid settlement of the territory a most per- 
plexing question arose, which was contested with such 
virulence that a warfare was inaugurated which became a 
stain upon the nation's escutcheon, and was not abated 
until the Missouri and Kansas borders became drunk with 
blood. Nearly all those who came from Missouri were 
intent upon extending slavery into the new territory, 
whilst those who emigrated from Illinois, Iowa and In- 
diana and sought homes in the new domain were equally 
determined that the cursed hydra head of slavery should 
never be reared in their midst. Over this question the 
border warfare began, and its fierceness can only find 
comparison in the Inquisitoral persecutions of the fif- 
teenth century. Men were shot down in their homes, 
around their firesides, in the furrows behind the plow, — 
everywhere. Widows and orphans multiplied, the arm 
of industry was palsied, while the incendiary torch lit up 
the prairie heavens, feeding on blighted homes and trailing 
along in the path of granaries and store-houses. Mobs 
of murder-loving men, drunk with fury, and with hearts 
set on desolation, day and night descended upon un- 
guarded households, and tearing away husbands and broth- 
ers from the loving arms of wives and sisters, left their 
bodies dangling from the shade trees of their unhappy 
homes, or shot them down where their blood might sear 
the eyes of helpless, agonized relatives. Anguish sat on 
every threshold, pity had no abiding-place, and for four 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 229 

years the besom of destruction, with all its pestilential 
influences, blighted the prairie and rendered every heart 
on the border sad and despondent. 

In this war of vengeance the Cody family did not 
escape a full measure of affliction. Near Mr. Cody's 
trading post was another store, kept by a Missourian 
named Rively, around which a considerable settlement 
had been made, which became the rendezvous of many 
different elements, and particularly of pro-slavery men, 
who enjoyed Kively's sympathies. In the summer of 
1854, and within a few months after the "Enabling Act" 
was passed, a very large meeting was held at the popular 
rendezvous, and Mr. Cody being present was pressed 
to address the crowd on the slavery question, he being 
regarded as favorably disposed to making Kansas a 
slave territory, owing to the fact that his brother, 
Elijah, was a Missourian. In the course of his remarks 
he frankly admitted that his views were opposed to those 
of his audience, but nevertheless expressed his opinions 
in a most conservative manner, in order that no offence 
might be given. Notwithstanding the guarded manner 
of his speech, the crowd became very angry and man- 
ifested their feelings by calling him a "black Abolition- 
ist," and ordering him to "get down off the box." In 
trying to assuage their anger he only aggravated them 
the more, and before he fully comprehended the danger 
of his position a rough desperado, who had been employed 
as a farm hand by Elijah Cody, leaped onto the box with 
a drawn bowie knife and stabbed the speaker twice in the 
breast. The wounded man fell off the box and was 
carried to Mr. Eively's house, from whence he was con- 
veyed in a carriage to the residence of his brother, 
where his wounds were dressed, which, though not 
directly fatal, were indirectly the cause of his death a 
short time after. 



230 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



The unfortunate speech of Mr. Cody at Rively's store 
proved to be only the beginning of misfortunes to the 
family. Being the first man whose blood was shed in 
opposition to the extension of slavery in Kansas, the 
border Missourians marked him as an object for their 
special hatred. 




Stabbing of Buffalo Bill's Father. 

It was several weeks after receiving his wound before 
Mr. Cody was able to leave his bed, and when he returned 
to his trading post he received notice to quit the territory 
immediately or abide the consequences which an enraged 
mob threatened. Disregarding these warnings, his house 
was surrounded by a body of armed mounted men on 
a dark night shortly after, whose purpose it was to sum- 
marily hang him, and after consummating this foul deed 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 231 

burn the house that sheltered his large family. Fortu- 
nately the plan was discovered, and to effect an escape 
he had recourse to the following stratagem : The night 
being very dark, Mr. Cody quietly arose and clothed 
himself in his wife's dress and bonnet, in which very 
effective disguise he easily passed between the horsemen 
and gained an adjoining cornfield, where he concealed 
himself. The mob dismounted, and after inquiry and a 
critical search of the premises, discovered that Mr. Cody 
was absent — a fact that the would-be murderers were at 
a, loss to understand. But that their visit might not 
be wholly without some villainy, the mob robbed the 
premises of everything they could find possessing any 
yalue, and then drove off all the horses in the pasture and 
stables. 

Mr. Cody, after keeping concealed for three days, suc- 
ceeded in reaching Ft. Leavenworth, near which place 
soon afterward he joined a party of Free State men 
under Jim Lane, and was a participant in the fight at 
Hickory Point, where the Free State men gained a de- 
cided victory, but not without considerable loss. 

After serving with Lane in one campaign, Mr. Cody 
returned to his family clandestinely, and acquainting 
them with his purpose went to Grasshopper Falls, where 
he at once began the erection of a saw -mill . The pro- 
slavery men were still determined to kill him, and upon 
learning of his settlement at the Falls, immediately re- 
solved themselves again into a body of intentional mur- 
derers. By a lucky chance, one of the hired men on Mr. 
Cody's homestead overheard the threats of the mob and 
lost no time in conveying his information to Mrs. Cody. 
With true wifely devotion, she considered only the safety 
of her husband. Billy, her oldest boy, now nine years 
of age, was her reliance, and to him, with trembling 
heart, she quickly said : 

14 



232 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

" Billy, my dear boy, hitch up Prince (the pony) im- 
mediately, and ride with all your might to your father ; 
the mob have again organized to murder him, and you 
must reach him before they do, to warn him of his 
danger." 

There were great big tears in her eyes when she gave 
this injunction ; a husband's safety was in the balance 
on one side and the life of her little boy on the other ; it 
was the hour for sacrifice, and brave little Billy, filled 
with resolution, threw fear under his pony's feet and a 
moment after was dashing away toward Grasshopper 
Falls. Seven miles from the post he suddenly ap- 
proached a body of armed men, by whom he was immedi- 
ately recognized and commanded to halt. The boy, so 
young in years, comprehended the situation and instead 
of obeying the order, only quickened the pace of his 
pony, making a detour on the prairie, hotly pursued by 
the mob ; but ho was riding to save the life of a loving 
father, and could not afford to be captured. After a 
chase of a few miles the mob drew rein and permitted 
the boy to ride so far ahead of them that when they 
reached Grasshopper Falls Mr. Cody and his brave boy 
were enroute for Lawrence to join Jim Lane again. At 
this time Lawrence was the territorial capital and the 
famous Lecompton Legislature was being organized, of 
which body Mr. Cody was chosen a member. 

After the first session of the Legislature he was called 
to Ohio in the interest of the Free State advocates, 
where he remained during a period of several months. 
After the departure of his father Billy, with three com- 
panions, returned to Grasshopper Falls ; but while en- 
route they were ambushed by a party of renegades and 
one of his companions killed, while Billy himself escaped 
only through good luck and a fleet horse. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 233 

Upon meeting his mother, whom he had not seen since 
leaving home to warn his father of tho mob's intentions, 
he handed her a letter from Mr. Cody, which fully relieved 
her mind from the dreadful anxiety she had so long suf- 
fered ; overcome with joy, she fell upon the neck of her 
brave boy and could only manifest her thankfulness 
with bounteous tears. 

During Mr. Cody's absence his family was subjected 
almost daily to some outrage ; gangs of cut-throats were 
almost constantly hovering about the premises trying to 
surprise Mr. Cody and kill him, or steal his stock and 
provisions. But amid all this threatening condition of 
affairs, and despite the persuasions of Elijah Cody, who 
offered her a home with his family in Missouri, Mrs. 
Cody was determined to remain at the home place and en- 
dure whatever persecutions the pro-slavery men could in- 
flict. She was a woman of unusual bravery, well suited 
for a pioneer's wife, and yet a lady well educated and 
used to the refinements of the most cultured society. 

After Mr. Cody's return from Ohio he served his term 
in the Lecompton Legislature and then resumed his la- 
bors at Grasshopper Falls. But the wound he received 
at the meeting near Bively's store had never healed and 
continued to give him so much trouble that he was forced 
to his bed again. While lying in this helpless condition 
one of the neighbors, a violent pro-slavery man of the 
lowest and most despicable proclivities, stole Billy's fa- 
vorite little pony, Prince, and a few days afterward he 
again visited the unfortunate family expressing a deter- 
mination to kill Mr. Cody, who was confined to his bed 
in the upper story of the house. The murderous wretch, 
however, was in such a maudlin condition from the deep 
potations in which he had indulged, that after ordering 
Mrs. Cody and her daughters to get him some dinner, he 



234 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

forgot the purpose of his visit and rode off again. It 
was fortunate for him that he made no attempt on the 
life of Mr. Cody, as Billy had overheard his threats, and 
with heroic resolve had taken a station at the head of the 
stairs, with pistol in hand, determined to shoot the in- 
truder the moment his head appeared above the second 
story floor. 

In the spring of 1856 an attempt was made by the old 
mob to blow up the Cody residence, to accomplish which 
purpose two kegs of powder were secretly deposited in 
the cellar, with a long fuse attached, but the villains 
were foiled by the bravery of Mrs. Cody and her heroic 
little boy, who managed to bluff the crowd that came to 
the house to light the fuse, by declaring that the house 
was full of armed men who would fire on the intruders if 
they did not immediately abandon the premises. 

It was this life of constant peril that Buffalo Bill led 
through the years of his youth, which was almost liter- 
ally a baptism of blood and persecution ; from the boc- 
cario he developed into the cavallard driver, and from 
this latter occupation he speedily became a recognized 
leader in the most thrilling: adventures. 



CHAPTER II. 

In the summer of 1855, when ten years of -age, Billy 
became a herder — or cow-boy — for Mr. Russell, to ac- 
cept which position he ran away from home, returning 
again at the expiration of two months with the sum of 
fifty dollars, all in new .silver coins, which he gave to his 
mother who needed his assistance now, since Mr. Cody 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 235 

was still suffering: from his wound and unable to con- 
tinue his labors. 

The settlement about the Kickapoo Agency having in- 
creased rapidly, in 185G a log school house was built and 
an excellent teacher employed, by subscription, to give 
instruction to the youth of that immediate section. Al- 
though this was the first regular school in the district, 
Billy had been under the instruction of a Miss Lyons, 
who was engaged by Mr. Cody to come to his house and 
teach the children, of whom there were seven, five girls 
and two boys, so that he was considerably advanced, for 
a pioneer boy, when he was enrolled as a pupil of one of 
the first schools started in the territory. 

For some time Billy made excellent progress ; was 
esteemed a model scholar and in every respect won the 
favor of teacher and fellow pupils. But his troubles 
began right where he expected to find happiness, thus, 
for once, following the usual plot of love stories. 
Mary Hyatt, a flaxen-haired, pretty little miss, with 
roguish smile and cunning eyes, was also a pupil in the 
log school-house and sat on a seat so near Billy that she 
became his dear charmer and condensed all his ambitions 
in the one desire to gain a reciprocal feeling. By his 
own admissions he became almost hopelessly stricken, 
the arrow of love cleaving the right ventricle of his heart 
clean through. The school-house was located on the 
bank of a creek where the woods grew luxuriantly, and 
afforded sylvan retreats for young lovers to build bowers 
of foliage and flowers. Billy, ever regardful for the 
happiness of Mary, with dextrous hands built arbors to 
shelter his young love, just large enough to ..old two, 
the reserve space being, of course, intended for himself. 
But Billy was not without competition, his rival being a 
larger and older boy named Stephen Gobel. The latter, 



236 HEROES OF THE TLA INN. 

v 

instead of resorting to honorable means for winning 
Mary, by trying to build a more delightful retreat for his 
sweetheart, ruthlessly tore down the arbors constructed 
by Billy and defied the school-mate he had wronged. A 
fight was the consequence, in which adverse fortune 
attended Billy, for he was compelled to acknowledge his 
defeat, which fact coming to the notice of the teacher, 
both combatants were brought under pedagogical disci- 
pline. The course of poor Billy's love was, therefore, 
undisputably rough, but though his spirit was humiliated, 
his affection remained none the less strong. Like the 
spider that, with industrious will, rebuilds again and 
again the web destroyed by vengeful circumstance, so 
Billy returned to the wreck of his little bower and care- 
fully reconstructed the arch with greener twigs and 
fresher flowers. But again the domineering Stephen 
destroyed the romantic little shelter and thus precipitated 
another fight. In this second encounter the ruthless boy 
again humbled his rival, but by chance Billy thought of 
a small dagger he carried, and during the fight it fell out 
of the scabbard convenient to his hand. With this he 
contested successfully by thrusting its keen point into 
Stephen's hip, bringing a copious flow of blood. The 
wounded boy cried out, "I'm killed! I'm killed," with 
such piteous voice that the scholars ran to inform the 
teacher, while Billy, frightened at what he had almost 
unconsciously done, ran off with all possible speed, closely 
pursued by the teacher, but not closely enough to be 
caught. He continued his fight until he overtook a freight 
team driven by an acquaintance named John Willis, to 
whom he hastily related the cause of his hurry, not for- 
getting, of course, to justify the act lie had committed. 

" Well," responded Willis, "you served him right; 
get up into the wagon and go with me to Ft. Kearney; 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 237 

the trip will take forty days and I want you for a caval- 
lard driver." 

This proposition suited Billy, for his adventurous spirit 
caused him to long continually for an engagement that 
would take him over the plains among the buffaloes and 
coyotes ; but he could not go without first seeing his 
mother, to whom he was most ardently attached. Willis 
therefore consented to camp and go back with him at 
night to see his mother and endeavor to gain her per- 
mission. 

Mrs. Cody had already heard of the trouble in 
which Billy had become involved, but, like her boy, she 
did not know the extent of Gobel's injuries, imagining 
them to be greater than they were. After much reflec- 
tion and an expression of poignant regret, Mrs. Cody at 
last gave her consent to Willis' proposition, and with 
tears streaming down her cheeks bade her little boy good- 
bye, not neglecting to implore him to be a good boy, and 
ever keep in mind the lesson he was now learning : that 
all wrong was sure to entail punishment. 

It so happened that Gobel's wound consisted of a very 
slight cut, which, having drawn blood, was sufficient to 
excite grave fears • in the wounded lad. But Billy felt 
that he had committed a terrible crime and very natu- 
rally wanted to get out of the country to escape the fury 
of Gobel's father, who, he rightly suspected, would fol- 
low him. 

On the following day, while Billy was sitting beside 
Willis on the wagon, en route for Kearney, he discovered 
old man Gobel, accompanied by two others, who had got 
onto the trail and were after him. Adopting Willis' 
suggestion, Billy got down into the wagon-bed and hid 
himself securely among the freight, leaving his friend to 
represent him. Willis was a plucky fellow, and being 



238 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

well armed he bluffed the pursuing party and carried 
Billy through safely. 

This incident was perhaps the turning point in William 
Cody's life, for it proved to be the initiatory ceremony 
which conferred on him the first degree as a Knight of 
the Prairie, and caused him to adopt the wild, ro- 
mantic life he has ever since led. 

After completing the journey to Kearney, Billy entered 
the employ of Russell, Majors & Waddell again as a 
cow-boy, which employment he followed for several 
months. Having become somewhat emboldened by the 
length of his absence he at last returned home, where he 
was rejoiced to find his own and the Gobel family on ex- 
cellent terms of friendship, and Stephen ready to extend 
the palm of forgiveness. 

In the winter of 1856-57 Mr. Cody had so far recov- 
ered that he was again able to leave his bed and travel, 
and in company with another Free-State man named 
Boles, went to Cleveland to bring out a colony to Kansas, 
which he accomplished, settling the new emigrants near 
Grasshopper Falls. But directly after his return a se- 
vere cold, contracted during the journey, aggravated his 
old wound and in the April following he died, leaving a 
large family illy provided for, with Billy, who was now 
twelve years of age, the main support. 

With a heroism which has blossomed like the everlast- 
ing flower throughout his life, the young plainsman 
shouldered the burden that had thus fallen upon him, 
and one month after his father's death he sought and 
found employment with the great freighters Russell, 
Majors & Waddell, and departed with his mother's bless- 
ings. He was assigned to duty under Frank and William 
McCarthy, brothers, who were engaged to drive a large 
herd of beef cattle to Salt Lake City, which were to 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 239 

serve as food for Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson's army, 
then operating against the Mormons. 

To appreciate the dangers which such a journey invited 
at that date of Western settlement it is only necessary for 
the reader to know the fact £hat in addition to the occu- 
pation of the country by Mormons, hundreds of different 
warlike tribes of Indians infested every ravine and moun- 
tain pass, many of these pests of the great West being 
employed by the Mormons to massacre overland freight- 
ers and emigrants. It therefore required eternal vigi- 
lance upon the part of travelers to prevent themselves 
from falling into hands as unmerciful as the iniquitous 
inquisitors. Men of iron nerve and desperate pluck were 
the only ones who attempted the perilous journey, and 
even these never departed from their border homes with- 
out taking a melancholy farewell of their kith and kin. 
Little Billy, by which familiar and no less euphonious 
appellation the youthful Buffalo Bill was universally 
known until after he became of age, was the only boy up 
to that time that had ever been permitted to accompany 
a team across the plains, as an assistant, but though fully 
apprised of the dangers of such a trip, he ran up the 
black feather and shouldering a Mississippi Yager mani- 
fested the greatest pride in being accepted as one of the 
volunteers for such a hazardous undertaking. He sought 
danger for the spice it afforded. 

The company, comprising cooks, drivers, herders, etc., 
numbering twelve persons, proceeded, with three 
hundred head of cattle, as far West as the South Platte, 
beyond old Ft. Kearney, before they met with any inci- 
dent of note. Stopping at this point in the evening, to 
go into camp, they met with a surprise which came near 
ending in the annihilation of the party. Billy was busy- 
ing himself carrying wood preparatory to cooking sup- 



240 IIEltOES OF TITE PLAINS. 

per, while three of the herders were rounding up the cat- 
tle in the corral ; the others were distributed around the 
camping place preparing the tents and getting things 
ready for the night. Suddenly, yelling and shooting 
was heard out where the h^ders were, and with the first 
volley three men were killed, having been taken by com- 
plete surprise by a band of fifty Indians. The men in 
camp gathered their arms instantly, just in time to meet 
the charging Indians as they came pell-mell over the hill 
directly for the wagons, yelling all the while like infuri- 
ated demons. Billy was quick in comprehending the 
situation, and though his heart may have become more 
violent in its pulsations, he never stopped to pray or ask 
advice ; but gathering his gun in common with the others 
got behind the wagons and began pouring swift lead into 
the Indians. This prompt action, resulting as it did in 
the death of several braves, served to repel the charge. 
The Indians, however, soon rallied, and flanking on both 
sides came back in a rainbow movement, which promised 
greater success. The McCarthy boys, appreciating the 
danger of their position, ordered the men to break for 
Plum Creek, the banks of which could be used as a pro- 
tection and breastwork. In this retreat one of the party 
was shot in the leg, the wound being so severe that his 
companions had to cany him to prevent him from falling 
into the hands of the red demons. 

Reaching Plum Creek, which was only fifty yards 
from the place of encampment, the men tried to check 
the Indians, but their movements were anticipated and 
in order to prevent being entirely cut off, the McCarthys 
advised a ret rent down the stream toward Ft. Kearney 
The wounded man was placed on a log fortunately found 
at the water's edge and allowed to drift with the current, 
which chanced to be rapid by reason of recent rains. 



LIFE OF liUFFALO BILL. 241 

The men, by excellent markmanship, kept the Indians at 
a distance, and thus the march continued for about twenty 
miles, until they reached a junction of the creek with the 
North Platte. But keeping close to the bank, the party 
continued on down the stream throughout the night. 

Billy, being so young, became very much exhausted by 
so long a march, carrying a large gun, and permitted the 
others to get nearly a hundred yards in advance. The 
night, now approaching morning, was made beautiful by 
a bright full moon, and in closely watching the banks 
Billy's quick eye fell upon the decorated head-dress of a 
big.Indian as he was peering over the bank looking for a 
favorable shot. Quick as thought, without challenging 
the enemy or shouting to his companions for help, the 
brave boy raised his gun and fired. There was no cause 
for conjecture regarding the effect of his aim, for with a 
leap like the stricken deer, head-dress and Indian came 
tumbling down the embankment, rolling over and over in 
the descent, and fell dead at Billy's feet. To say that the 
youthful Indian slayer was surprised affords no concep- 
tion of his feelings ; he was frightened with astonishment 
and when his companions rushed back to determine the 
cause of the shooting, they found Billy standing beside 
his victim with looks indicative of victor and vanquished, 
too puzzled at first to explain his act ; but the dead In- 
dian was explanation sufficient and Billy was at once 
complimented with such generous enthusiasm that he 
soon realized what a heroic deed he had accomplished. 
After the loss of their inquisitive companion the Indians 
drew off and left Billy and his party to pursue the re- 
mainder of their journey unmolested. 

It was long after the first morning hours when the 
footsore party reached Kearney, but upon arriving at the 
fort Frank McCarthy made due report of the Indian at- 



242 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

tack, not forgetting to elaborately describe the bravery of 
Billy and how scientifically the lion-hearted lad had slain 
the " biggest Indian in the outfit." 

A company was at once mounted on mules and sent 
out from the fort, taking a howitzer with them, to re- 
cover the cattle and if possible punish the dusky ma- 
rauders. Billy was allowed to accompany the soldiers, 
as his capabilities were now reckoned at more than par. 
This force, upon reaching the scene of attack, found the 
mutilated remains of the three herders, to which they 
gave proper burial and then pushed on in pursuit of the 
Indians, but the trail was lost in crossing Republican 
river, and further efforts of the company were directed 
to recovering the cattle. But even this object of the ex- 
pedition had to be abandoned, as it was found that the 
cattle not driven off by the Indians had been stampeded 
with buffaloes, thus rendering their recapture impossible. 

The first expedition, therefore, in which Billy had been 
engaged terminated disastrously, but it brought to him a 
full measure of adventure and notoriety. The fame so 
soon won had preceded him on his return, so that when 
he arrived in Leavenworth, on his way home, there was 
an enterprising reporter awaiting to interview him. Billy, 
though by no means vainglorious, told the story of his 
adventure with much satisfaction, and on the following 
day he found the substance of his relation under a bewil- 
dering, pyrotechnical display of sensational head lines, in 
which he was heroi/ed with a veneering of eulogistic cx- 
prcssions impossible of analysis. In the language of Buf- 
falo Bill, this incident has been attached to his name like 
a tin kettle to a dog's tail, and ever since he has been pur- 
suing life with this appendage clattering at his heels. 
Many men, however, have been made famous by circum- 
stances much less interesting and meritorious. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL.. 243 



CHAPTER ni. 

Billy did not remain at home long before another 
opportunity was offered him to cross the plains. With 
most boys a trip replete with experiences such as he had 
encountered at Plum Creek would have satisfied their 
craving for further adventure in that direction, but to him 
the effect was to increase his longing for the plains, to 
share the perils, hardships and life of danger-loving prai- 
rie free-rovers. 

The opportunity referred to came in an offer made him 
by a wagon boss named Lew Simpson, who was in the 
employ of Russell, Majors & Waddell, to accompany a 
freight train to Salt Lake as an "extra." 

Mrs. Cody was decidedly averse to her boy making 
another trip over a route she was now convinced led 
through the greatest dangers, and when Simpson begged 
hard for Billy, pledging to return him in safety, she pos- 
itively refused. No one can fail to appreciate this poor 
mother's decision ; she saw in the proposed trip a certain 
absence of nearly one year even should no evil attend her 
promising son, but more than this, she could not avoid 
the belief that should he go, no one could protect him 
against the perils he must encounter. 

Finding her decision so firm, Billy at length told his 
mother that, while he regarded her desires and loved her 
devotedly, and sought to render true filial ooedience, yet 
he must needs follow some occupation that would yield a 
necessary subsistence for the family now dependent upon 
his exertions ; that he must therefore go. He accordingly 
arranged the payment of his monthly salary ($40.00), 
so that Mr. Russell could turn it over to her on the first 
of each month during his absence. 



244 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

SeeiDg that nothing could deter him from his purpose, 
Mrs. Cod j implored Simpson to watch over her boy with 
tender regard ; that he was not only a son in whom her 
affections centered, but her staff of iife upon whom she 
was now compelled to lean. Mr. Russell also requested 
Simpson to protect little Billy at all hazards, and these 
promises being given, the young hero was suffered to de- 
part on the dangerous journey, leasing a weeping and 
praying mother behind him. 

Before proceeding to a relation of the incidents during 
the trip, it is needful to give a description of overland 
freighting, and also some idea of the business conducted 
by the great freighters, Russell, Majors & Waddell. The 
wagons used for this purpose were built specially by a 
large firm in St. Louis, and were constructed with a 
storage and carrying capacity of 7,000 pounds. To haul 
these wagons, when loaded, usually required from eight 
to ten yoke of oxen, according to the weight of the cat- 
tle. A train of prairie schooners consisted of twenty- 
five wagons in charge of the following " officers and sea- 
men," so to speak: The wagon-master, who acted as 
captain ; then came the assistant wagon-master, then the 
extra hand, then the night herder, then the cavau id 
driver, whose duty it is to attend the extra cattle. Be- 
sides these each team has a driver, so that the full com- 
plement for a complete train is thirty-one men. 

Among these men a language is used peculiarly their 
own ; the wagon-master is called the "bull-wagon boss," 
the teamsters are " bull-whackers," and a train is called 
a " bull outfit." Every man is expected to be thorough- 
ly armed, and each knows where to " fall in " when an 
attack is made, which at that date was antieipated at any 
time while passing over the route to Salt Lake. This 
trail, as described by Buffalo Bill, ran as follows: 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 



245 




ljSl|p^l ' 



246 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

" Through Kansas northwestwardly, crossing the Big 
Blue river, then over the Big and Little Sandy, coming 
into Nebraska near the Big Saudy. The next stream of 
any importance was the Little Blue, along which the trail 
ran for sixty miles ;, then crossed a range of sand-hills 
and struck the Platte river ten miles below old Fort 
Kearney ; thence the course lay up the South Platte to 
the old Ash Hollow Crossing, thence eighteen miles 
across to the North Platte, near the mouth of the Blue 
Water, where Gen. Harney had his great battle in 1855 
with the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians. From this point 
the North Platte was followed, passing Court House 
Rock, Chimney Rock and Scott's Bluffs, and then on to 
Fort Laramie, where the Laramie river was crossed. 
Still following the North Platte for some considerable 
distance, the trail crossed this river at old Richard's 
Bridge, and followed it up to the celebrated Red Buttes, 
crossing the Willow Creeks to the Sweet Water, passing 
the great Independence Rock and the Devil's Gate, up 
to the Three Crossings of the Sweet Water, thence past 
the Cold Springs, where, three feet under the sod, on 
the hottest day of summer, ice can be found ; thence tc 
the Hot Springs and the Rocky Ridge, and through the 
Rocky Mountains and Echo Canon, and thence on to the 
great Salt Lake valley." 

In order to take care of the business which then offer- 
ed, the freight for transportation being almost exclu- 
sively government provisions, Russell, Majors & Waddell 
operated (*>,"2.">0 wagons, for the hauling of which they 
used 75,000 oxen, and gave employment to 8,000 men; 
the coital invested by these three freighters was nearly 
$2,000,000. h\ their operations, involving such an 
immense sum of money, and employing a class of 
laborers incomparably reckless, some very stringent rules 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 247 

were adopted by the firm, to which all their employes 
were made to subscribe. In this code of discipline was 

the following obligation: "I, , do hereby 

solemnly swear, before the Great and Living God, that 
during my engagement, and while I am in the employ 
of Russell, Majors & Waddell, that I will, under no 
circumstances, use profane language ; that I will drink 
no intoxicating liquors of any kind ; that I will not 
quarrel or fight with any other employe of the firm, 
and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, 
be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as 
will win the confidence and esteem of my employers, so 
help me God." 

This oath was the creation of Mr. Majors, who was a 
very pious and rigid disciplinarian ; he tried hard to en- 
force it, but how great was his failure it is needless to 
say. It would have been equally profitable had the old 
gentleman read the riot act to a herd of stampeded buf- 
faloes. And he believes it himself now. 

Among the bull-whackers who accompanied this train 
with Billy was J. B. Hickok, who afterward became the 
noted "Wild Bill," and between the two an intimate ac- 
quaintance soon sprang up which ripened into the strong- 
est friendship, enduring year after year until the latter' s 
assassination in 1876. In fact, as Buffalo Bill declares in 
his autobiography, " Wild Bill was my protector (refer- 
ring to the time when his first overland trip was made,) 
and intimate friend, and the friendship thus begun con- 
tinued until his death." 

The route as described was the same as tnat taken by 
Billy and the McCarthy boys only a few months before, 
and when the train reached Plum Creek, having met with 
no adventure worthy of note, a halt was made for one 
day to rest the oxen and take a buffalo hunt. 

15 



248 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Big game was so abundant in that section of country 
that writers as far back as 1860 asserted that there were 
enough buffaloes on the Western prairies to feed the 
whole world for a century, and that ten thousand hunters 
shooting day after day for a hundred years could make 
no perceptible diminution in the number. 

Shortly after the oxen were herded and the wagons lo- • 
cated a large drove of buffaloes were discovered bearing 
toward the camp with a party of California emigrants in 
the rear. On they came in a mad stampede, and no 
amount of shouting and shooting could swerve them 
from their course. A few minutes later the whole herd 
of more than one thousand crazed animals rushed like a 
wave of thunder into the camp, over the wagons, oxen 
and other impediments, crippling themselves but making 
sad havoc of the train. Wagons were overturned and 
broken, the provisions scattered and trampled, and when 
the animated wave had swept over and by there was 
desolation in the wake. The train men had found a 
great many more buffaloes than they had intended hunt- 
ing. It required two days of hard work to repair the 
injury so that the train could proceed. 

On the following day, after leaving the Plum Creek 
camping grounds, the train-men met Joe Smith, Jr., who 
was acting as a spy for the Mormons, ascertaining the 
number and character of the "outfits" on the road, and 
preparing for their capture. As no one in the train knew 
him he had no difficulty in obtaining all the information 
he desired. 

After remaining with the men for one day, Smith made 
a plausible excuse for leaving them, and then rode rap- 
idly to an appointed rendezvous where the Mormons, 
neaily two hundred strong, were awaiting his orders. 

When the train had reached the Rocky Mountains, 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 249 

within eighteen miles of Green River, suddenly the men 
were surrounded by Joe Smith and his well-armed fol- 
lowers, who, being Avhites, did not arouse any suspicion 
upon the part of the train-men until they found them- 
selves covered by Mormon rifles. Resistance, under the 
circumstances, was impossible, and Simpson, after roundly 
berating the apostles, was forced to submit. 

The result of this adventure was that, after rilling the 
wagons of whatever provisions they were able to carry, 
the Mormons set fire to the train and drove off the oxen. 
The train-men, however, were allowed to retain their 
arms and one wagon and six yoke of oxen and sufficient 
provisions to last the party until they could reach Fort 
Bridger. 

After reaching the fort, it being far in November, the 
party decided to spend the winter there with about four 
hundred other employes of Russell, Majors & Waddell, 
rather than attempt a return, which would have exposed 
them to many dangers and the severity of a rapidly-ap- 
proaching winter. During this period of hibernation, 
however, the larders of the commissary became so de- 
pleted that the men were placed on one-quarter rations, 
and at length, as a final resort, the poor, dreadfully ema- 
ciated mules and oxen were killed to afford sustenance 
for the famishing men. 

Fort Bridger being located in a prairie, all fuel there 
used had to be carried for a distance of nearly two miles, 
and after their mules and oxen were butchered the men 
had no other recourse than to carry the Avood on their 
backs or haul it on sleds, themselves taking the part of 
draught animals. 

Starvation was beginning to lurk about the post when 
spring approached, and but for the timely arrival of a 
westward-bound train loaded with provisions for John- 



250 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

son's army some of the party must certainly have fallen 
victims to deadly hunger. 

Arrangements having been made for a return to Fort 
Leavenworth, all the employes at Fort Bridger deter- 
mined to accompany the returning cavalcade, and Simp- 
son was chosen brigade wagon-master of the new "out- 
fit,? which consisted of two trains and four hundred 
men. 

When the trains approached Ash Hollow, Simpson de- 
cided to leave the main road and make a cut-off by fol- 
lowing the North Platte down to its junction with the 
South Platte. In traveling the two trains had become 
separated with an intervening space of fifteen or twenty 
miles between them, the latter train being in charge of 
Assistant Wagon-Master Geo. Woods, under whom Billy 
was acting as " extra." 

Simp.son, accompanied by Woods, desiring to reach 
the head train, ordered Billy to " sinch"( saddle )up and 
follow him. The three rode rapidly for some time until 
they reached Cedar Bluffs, when they suddenly dis- 
covered a score of Indians emerging from the head of a 
ravine less than half a mile distant, bearing down upon 
them at great speed. 

" Dismount and shoot your mules," was the quick 
order issued by Simpson, who was at once alive to the 
situation. As the jaded and stricken animals dropped in 
their tracks, the three men — or rather two men and one 
little boy — crouched down behind the mules which lay 
together in a triangle, and using their dead bodies as 
breast- works, opened fire on the Indians with Mississippi 
yagers and revolvers, killing three and wounding two 
ponies. The red-skins, surprised at the hot-bed they 
had struck, circled around and sped away again, halting 
ieveral hundred yards distant, evidently for consultation. 



LITE OF BUFFALO BILL. 251 

This gave the beleaguered trio time to reload their 
weapons and prepare for a second charge, which they felt 
sure would be made. 

The Indians were armed with bows and arrows, which 
of course required close range to be effective, and this 
gave the little party an advantage which partly com- 
pensated for the superior number of their enemies. 

Little Billy showed so much pluck in the dangerous 
position he occupied that Simpson could not help prais- 
ing him, and by way of further encouragement he said : 

" My brave little man, do you see that Indian on the 
right, riding out from the party to reconnoiter ? " 

" Yes, I'm watching him," was the reply. 

" Well, suppose you give him a shot just by way of 
experiment." 

Billy at once extended himself and resting his gun on 
the body of the mule before him, took steady aim and 
fired. 

"Bully boy! a splendid shot!" shouted Simpson as 
he saw the Indian topple from his horse, struck evidently 
in the side, as the wounded savage commenced trying to 
crawl, his hand pressed over the injured spot. The dis- 
tance was fully three hundred yards. 

After a long parley the Indians scattered, and came 
charging back again whooping in a delirium of excite- 
ment. When they had approached within less than one 
hundred yards, the besieged party turned loose on them, 
shooting two more out of the saddle ; but the Indians 
rushed on discharging a shower of arrows, one of which 
pierced Geo. Wood's right shoulder, producing a very 
painful wound. More than a dozen other arrows struck 
in the bodies of the dead mules, but inflicted no other 
damage. For a second time the red warriors were re- 
pulsed and when they drew off again it was evidently for 



252 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

the purpose of resorting to other tactics. Getting be- 
yond the range of the yagers, the Indians formed in a 
large circle, tethered their ponies and disposed themselves 
for a siege, with the evident intention of starving out the 
brave trio. 

About three hours afterward, however, the cracking of 
bull-whackers' whips was heard, and soon the advancing 
train was seen coming over a hill. The Indians appre- 
ciated what this meant, and gaining their ponies rode 
down on the little party again, discharging another flight 
of arrows and receiving a volly of bullets in return. No 
damage was inflicted on either side in the last charge, 
and the three were saved. Their safety, however, was 
due entirely to the prompt and decisive action of Simp- 
son, who was a man exactly suited for working out des- 
perate circumstances to his own advantage. 

After bandaging Wood's wound the train started again 
and met with no further detention or accident, reaching 
Leavenworth in July, 1858. Wild Bill had been a special 
companion of Billy's during the entire trip, and so warm 
had become the attachment between them that the latter 
gave him a pressing invitation to go with him to his home 
for a short visit, a request which Wild Bill acceded to. 
During this visit he was treated with so much attention 
that he became as one of the family, and ever after, until 
the death of Billy's mother, he called her "Mother 
Cody." 

Billy had been at home scarcely one month before he 
engaged himself as assistant wagon-master to another 
train which was made up at Ft. Laramie to carry supplies 
to a new post just established at Cheyenne Pass. In this, 
his third trip, he met with no stirring adventure and got 
through without losing a team or man. This result was 
in pleasing varience with his two former trips, both of 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 253 

which had been so full of stirring incidents and disas- 
trous consequences. 

Upon his return to Laramie from Cheyenne Pass he 
entered into an engagement with a Mr. Ward, the post- 
trader, to trap for beaver, mink and otter on the Chug- 
water, and poison wolves for their peltries. This enter- 
prise, yielding little or no profit, was abandoned after a 
two months' experiment, and Billy returned to Laramie, 
where, a few days after, in company with two others, he 
started back to Leavenworth. 

Upon reaching the Little Blue, the three were jumped 
by a party of Indians, who chased them for several hours, 
and doubtless would have captured them had not dark- 
ness intervened to assist them in escaping. After " los- 
ing" the Indians the trio discovered a cave, in which they 
resolved to spend the night, but upon lighting a match 
they were horrified at finding the place tenanted by the 
bones and dessicated flesh of murdered emigrants, who 
had gone the way of hundreds of other unfortunate pil- 
grims seeking gold and fortune in the far West. 

Without waiting to make an investigation, the three 
now badly-frightened travellers broke camp, and regard- 
less of the cold and snow, pushed rapidly forward. After 
journeying all night they reached Oak Grove, and there 
taking in a fresh supply of necessaries, resumed their 
homeward march, reaching Leavenworth in February, 
1859. 



254 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Billy, who had now reached the age of fourteen years, 
and was unusually large for one of that age, having been 
almost wholly without schooling, following his mother's 
entreaties, concluded to attend a school which had just 
been opened in the neighborhood of Grasshopper Falls. 

The pretty little Mary Hyatt, however, had removed 
from that section, and Stephen Gobel had forgotten the 
rivalry which resulted in broken arbors and a bloody se- 
quel. His attention being diverted by no love episodes, 
Billy applied himself with becoming diligence during the 
session, which lasted for a period of ten weeks, and made 
a most gratifying progress. This was the longest term 
of school he ever attended, and it is doubtful if all the 
schooling he ever received would aggregate six months, 
though he is now comparatively well educated, acquired 
almost wholly by extensive travel and association with 
polished people. 

When spring returned and the warm rays of a conge- 
nial sun freshened the brown grass on the prairie, turning 
it into an emerald sward as boundless almost as the sky 
overhead, the old impulse seized on Billy again and he 
determined to seek the far West where adventure and 
danger incite the restless spirit of brave men. 

In addition to the promptings of his own nature there 
was a further motive in the recent discoveries of gold at 
Pike's Peak. Who that is thirty years of age now will 
forget the wild excitement occasioned by the delirium- 
producing stories which floated as generous as the air into 
every nook of America, declaring the illimitable store- 
house of gold just laid bare at Pike's Peak? There was 
magic in the very name, and I distinctly recall to mind 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 255 

now, though a small boy at the time, that the whisky 
bottles used then had the figure of a pilgrim with pack 
and pick on his shoulder, blown in one side, with the 
declaration, "Bound for Pike's Peak," underneath. 
Why, since I come to think of it, my mother is using one 
of those old Pike's Peak bottles at this very day as a recep- 
tacle for camphor. 

Billy, young in years, though now a man in size, in 
common with thousands of others seized a pick and set 
out for the wonderful diggings. He located on Cherry 
Creek where there was a camp called Aurora, on the site 
now occupied by the city of Denver. After digging 
around Aurora for a few days, the ignus fatuus led him 
further up the mountains to Black Hawk, where he set- 
tled and worked most assiduously for a period of two 
months without finding as much as a handful of pay dirt. 
In the meantime provisions were so high that it took a 
Jacob's ladder to reach the smell of cold beans. 

Billy became not only tired but disgusted with the re- 
sult of his mining labors and resolved to get out of the 
country. He had no difficulty in finding others in camp 
of the same turn of mind as himself, and such as he de- 
sired as companions he induced to accompany him back. 
Of the numerous caravans and individuals who adopted as 
their motto, "Pike's Peak or Bust," Billy and his party 
fell back on the latter end of the bold legend. They 
were so badly "busted," in fact, that the only convey- 
ance left them was their legs. Setting out on these the 
party proceeded on foot to the Piatt 3 river, where the 
idea possessed Billy that they might make the remainder 
of their journey to Leavenworth on an improvised raft. 

By various means, but chiefly by killing game along 
the way, the party subsisted comfortably while they 
floated down the stream on a rickety collection of logs. 



256 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Matters were satisfactory enough until they reached 
Jule's ranchc, or Julesburg, where having met a swifter 
current the raft struck a snag and went to pieces with a 
suddenness no less astonishing than the bath which in- 
stantly followed. Fortunately, though the North Platte 
is a broad stream, it is generally shallow, and the party 
had to swim but a short distance before they found a 
footing, and then waded ashore. 

Everything having been lost with the raft, including 
their arms and such provisions as they had, the party 
stopped at Julesburg to wait for something to turn up. 

It so happened that the great Pony Express had just 
been established between Omaha and Pike's Peak, and 
other far Western points, including San Francisco. This 
route ran by Julesburg where the company had an agent 
in the person of George Chrisman, who was well ac- 
quainted with Billy, the two having freighted together 
for Eussell, Majors & Waddell. 

Finding Billy out of employment and express riders 
being scarce, Chrisman offered him a position as rider, 
which was gladly accepted. 

The requirements for this occupation w~re such that 
very few were qualified for the performance oC the duties. 
The distance and time required to be made were fifteen 
miles per hour. Only boys could be employed on ac- 
count of the weight to be carried, and such laborious rid- 
ing could be endured by very few. Nevertheless, Billy 
was an expert horseman and having the constitution and 
endurance of a broncho he braved the perils and duties of 
the position and was assigned to a route of forty-five 
miles. 

After riding for several months he received a letter 
from his mother urging him to return home and give up 
a position which would surely destroy his health. But he 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 257 

continued in the employ of the express company until an- 
other letter came informing him of the severe illness of 
his mother ; his filial love being stronger than any other 
trait of character, he immediately resigned and hurried to 
the bedside of his beloved parent, whom he was rejoiced 
^o find growing better. 



CHAPTER V. 

Remaining at home scarcely one month Billy received 
an invitation from an old friend, named Dave Harring- 
ton, to accompany him on a trapping expedition up the 
Republican river, which, with hasty preparation, he gladly 
accepted. 

The two started out from Salt Creek valley with an 
outfit consisting of a wagon filled with traps and provis- 
ions drawn by a yoke of oxen. 

It was near the middle of November when the two 
started on the expedition, Mrs. Cody standing in the 
door when the team moved off, wiping the tears from her 
eyes and giving bounteous blessings to her beloved boy, 
watching with painful emotions until the white cover of 
the wagon which sheltered her dearest treasure became 
hidden by the prairie undulations in the distance. 

The two made excellent progress and met with no de- 
tention, arriving at the mouth of Prairie Dog Creek early 
in December. Here they found an abundance of beaver 
and trapped with such success that they secured three 
hundred beaver and one hundred otter skins before the 
severe weather interfered with their occupation. 

Having obtained a full load of peltries it was decided 



258 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

to remain in the dug-out which they had constructed un- 
til the beginning of spring, when the return trip could be 
made without dangerous exposure. 

During the period of waiting the two occupied much 
of their time shooting elk, large numbers of which were 
roaming constantly within convenient proximity. On 
one occasion while out hunting and in pursuit of a large 
herd of elk, while passing around a large rock projecting 
over a small ravine, Billy made a false step and was pre- 
cipitated onto the rocks below, the fall breaking his leg 
between the knee and ankle. This accident, always se- 
rious, was doubly so under the circumstances, when no 
surgical aid could be had, nor any but a miserably insuffi- 
cient attention could be given to mitigate the injury. To 
add still further to the misfortunes of the suffering boy, 
only a few days before this accident one of the oxen had 
broken a leg and Harrington had been compelled to shoot 
the animal. Here the two trappers were, in the midst of 
winter storms, without a team, and Billy rolling in an 
agony which his partner was unable to relieve. 

After discussing the situation for some time Harring- 
ton said : 

" Well, Billy, this is a bad box, and the only way to 
get out is for me to reach the nearest settlement and get 
a team to haul you home." 

The poor boy, though he well knew that the nearest 
place from which succor could be obtained was fully one 
hundred and twenty-five miles distant, and appreciated 
all the terrors of a long and painful waiting alone, 
among the hungry wolves and bands of equally ferocious 
Indians, told Harrington to do as he thought best about 
making the trip. 

It is no less pathetic than astonishing, the devotion 
wbich is so often found among the Western pioneers 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 259 

whose uncouth language and grizzly garb, if taken as an 
index to their true character, would lead to the inference 
that they are destitute of that human kindness which re- 
deems mankind and compensates our vices. 

Brave Dave Harrington, just like Cody himself, big- 
hearted, noble, generous, self-sacrificing, immediately 
prepared for the tedious winter journey. Collecting 
about and within convenient reach of Billy, plenty of 
dried beef, water and other provisions needful for the 
sufferer's subsistence, Dave set out on the long trip, bid- 
ding his companion be cheerful and to expect his return 
in twenty-one days. 

Finding himself utterly alone, poor Billy — I say "poor" 
because the facts cannot fail to arouse the deepest pity 
and make us sympathize with him even now in remem- 
brance, because sensibly affected by the realization of 
his terrible situation — inside a rude " dug-out," the 
trapper's home, consisting of an excavation in the side of 
a hill boarded up inside, and a single door for entrance 
and ventilation, Billy lay on his rude litter nursing the 
inflamed and painful fracture ; nothing to relieve his lone- 
someness save the howls of prowling wolves scrambling 
about the chimney, peering down through the mud and 
sticks and sniffing at the chink under the door. Nothing 
else to disturb his sombre reflections, save the whistling 
winds which came sweeping over his rude habitation 
rattling at the puncheon door and making the trees out- 
side groan in consonance with the biting cold. 

Day after day, time, like a foot-sore and weary pilgrim, 
jogged slowly and drearily along until the tenth day had 
departed since Harrington left on his mission for help. 
The shades of mid-winter were just gathering in the dark- 
ening fold of eventide when Billy was aroused from his 
re very by a singular noise outside the door of his abode. 



260 HEKOES OF THE PLAINS. 

There were shuffling feet near the entrance, and then a 
moment of silence, followed by voices which his experi- 
enced ears told him proceeded from Indians. Uninvited, 
more than a dozen Sioux, headed by chief Rain-in-the- 
face, forced an entrance into the dug-out as though in- 
tent upon rifling the place, thinking the owners were ab- 
sent. But Billy rose up from his pallet and when the In- 
dians' eyes fell upon him a murmur of confused voices 
followed, which he interpreted as a prelude to the ter- 
mination of his earthly career. 

A stroke of good fortune, however, came to the suf- 
fering boy in his direst extremity. Old Rain-in-the-face 
chanced to be an acquaintance of Billy's, having met him 
frequently at Laramie, and this acquaintance saved his 
life. The old chief told Billy that the Indians had in- 
tended to kill him, but he had prevailed on them to spare 
his life on account of his youth. This was joyful news, 
but the Indians remained in the dug-out all night, feast- 
ing themselves on the provisions left for Billy's use, and 
when they departed on the following morning took with 
them nearly everything in his larder, besides all the fire- 
arms. He was thus left in a more trying situation than 
before, with many days yet to elapse before he could 
expect Harrington's return. 

To add still further to the ordeal of suffering he was 
compelled to endure, a terrible snow-storm began on the 
fifteenth day after Dave's departure and continued until 
the snow had fallen to a depth of nearly three feet, 
blocking the entrance to his hut, and as he well knew, 
must seriously delay Harrington, perhaps cause him to 
lose the way or furnish a trail for a band of murderous 
Indians. These forebodings almost crazed him, for in 
addition to the probable loss of his friend, starvation 
threatened him, and his injured limb had become daily 
more painful from enforced neglect. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 261 

At last the twenty-first day dawned, Billy having com- 
puted the time by marking on the wall each day as it 
passed. Every passing sound he felt sure was the foot- 
step of his friend, but disappointment and hope came 
and went like the pendulum of a clock ticking : fortune, 
disaster ; fortune, disaster. It was thus that the day 
came and died, and another dawn succeeded only to 
arouse the same feelings of hope and dejection. 

The fire had expired for lack of fuel to replenish it, and 
the faint, hungry, now almost hopeless boy, was forced 
to gnaw the few remaining chunks of frozen venison left 
him, from which it was possible to obtain barely enough 
to keep from starving, but never enough to stay hunger. 

It was not until the twenty-ninth day after his depar- 
ture that faithful Dave Harrington arrived at the old hut, 
his approach being heralded by deep, sonorous commands 
addressed to the yoke of oxen he had driven through 
the snows and perils of a northern winter when every 
hill and valley was the bivouac of depredating Indians. 

When the grateful sounds of Dave's voice fell on Bil- 
ly's ears the famishing boy believed it was the first warn- 
ing of delirium, admonishing him to prepare for the last 
horrors of starvation. But soon he heard that same voice 
ring out clearly before the snow-embarred door : 

"Hello, Billy ! are you alive yet?" 

"Yes, Dave, still alive, but nearly gone." 

Then the brawny hands of Harrington fell to work 
clearing away the snow with such exertions as he would 
have employed to rescue a friend buried alive. It was 
but a few moments ere the door was pushed open, and 
rescued and rescuer fell into each others arms, weeping 
with the joy of reunited friends after passing through the 
valley of tribulation. 

After rehearsing to each other the incidents that had 



262 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

transpired during the painful separation, in which Har- 
rington told how he braved dangers few men could 
survive, tumbling into snow-drifts, wading treacherous 
streams, etc., the two made preparations to return, though 
the perils of the journey over a territory beset with so 
many uninviting prospects were sufficient to deter any 
but the stoutest hearts. 

A bed was carefully made in the wagon of furs and 
blankets, on which Harrington placed Billy, and bidding 
good-bye to the old hut in the hillside, the two set out 
for Junction City. Directly after their departure, the 
sun came out warm and revivifying, and in three days 
the snow had melted so rapidly that they experienced no 
further difficulty in traveling. 

Reaching the place from whence Harrington had hired 
the team to bring Billy away from the dug-out, another 
yoke of oxen was purchased, being paid for in peltries, 
and the latter end of the journey was accomplished with- 
out further incident. 

Arriving at Junction City, Dave and Billy sold their 
furs at a most satisfactory price, and also the team, for 
which they had no further use, as government mule trains 
were almost daily passing that point, bound for Leaven- 
worth, with which transportation was easily arranged. 

The two trappers reached Leavenworth in March, 1860, 
and Billy, unable to get about, begged his friend to ac- 
company him home, for at least a short visit. Harring- 
ton, who was warmly attached to his now helpless com- 
panion, assented after small persuasion, arriving at Salt 
Creek Valley after a delay of one day at Leavenworth. 

Mrs. Cody was overcome with joy when she received 
her boy, but cast down again with grief at seeing his 
condition, which, with a mother's natural solicitude, she 
at first magnified into a serious injury. Upon learning 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL 263 

the noble, generous part acted by Harrington toward 
Billy, with tears of thankfulness and gratitude she mani- 
fested her appreciation and obligation to the brave man 
who had submitted to all danger and privation to secure 
the safety of her darling boy. 

Harrington remained with Billy at Mrs. Cody's home 
for several days, treated with the consideration his sacri- 
fices deserved ; but after the lapse of a week, thinking 
he had been idle too long already, he set about perform- 
ing some needful work on Mrs. Cody's premises. While 
planting trees on a cold damp day in the latter part of 
March the exposure, though not to be compared with 
what he had so recently passed through, was such that he 
contracted a severe cold, which speedily grew into pneu- 
monia. Despite the most careful attention from Mrs. 
Cody and the services of a physician from Leavenworth, 
poor Dave Harrington, one of the noblest of God's 
creatures, died, after an illness of one week. Far from 
home and relations, he yielded up his brave spirit sur- 
rounded by most devoted friends who mourned him as a 
brother, and laid him away under a sod freshened 
with their tears. 

Even to this day to speak of Dave Harrington in Buf- 
falo Bill's presence will turn him from the merriest mood 
and bring tears to his eyes. There is a large place in 
Cody's heart reserved for the memory of his dearest 
friend. 

16 



264: HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Billy remained at home until his injured leg had be- 
come thoroughly strong, and it being now the long and 
tedious days of summer, he determined to cast about 
again for occupation somewhere in. the great wild West. 

Proceeding to Leavenworth he there met Lew Simpson 
to whom he made known his wishes, and received in re- 
ply an invitation to accompany a train just then being 
made up for Ft. Laramie. But "bull-whacking" was 
not exactly the employment most desirable, and Billy 
asked Simpson's influence in seeming the position of 
pony-express rider again. 

The result of this application was Billy's departure 
for Atchison, where he met Mr. Russell, proprietor of 
the Express, who gave him a letter to Alf. Slade, who was 
superintendent of the route between Rocky Ridge and 
Julcsburg, with headquarters at Horse Shoe Station, near 
Laramie. 

Having to go overland almost to Laramie, Billy con- 
cluded to accompany Simpson's train, thereby making the 
necessary trip a profitable one. Upon reaching Horse 
Shoe he presented Mr. Russell's letter to Slade, who, af- 
ter critically examining the youthful applicant, said : 

" My boy, you're a mite too young for the business ; 
I'm afraid you couldn't stand it more'n a week." 

"I'd like to try again," responded Billy. "I rode 
Bill Trotter's division for two months last year and 
stood the shaking all right, so I don't see why I couldn't 
do as well now, as I'm a year older." 

"Are you the young one who rode that route and was 
called the youngest express rider in the West?" 

" That's me," replied the anxious Billy, " and I'd like 
to do it again." 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 265 

" Then I'll take you," answered Slade, " and you can 
go right to work between Red Buttes and Three Cross- 
ings." 

Thus the engagement was concluded and Billy entered 
upon active service the following day. 

Red Buttes was a station on the North Platte, and 
Three Crossings was a point seventy-six miles west, on 
the Sweetwater. This route, a very long and dangerous 
one, ran by the site now occupied by the town of North 
Platte, and through what is now the main street of that 
place. During a visit I made to Buffalo Bill, at his 
home, in May, 1881, while riding with him, we crossed 
the U. P. railroad bridge over the North Platte river, 
and from this point of observation he showed me where 
the express crossing of that stream was made. Although 
the North Platte is generally quite shallow it is more 
than half a mile wide, and in some places quite deep. 
The crossing, which was always made on horseback by 
the express riders, was only two or three hundred yards 
south of the present railroad bridge, and near the west 
shore where the channel runs, the water is about twelve 
feet in depth, besides being very swift. The reader can 
readily imagine, from this superficial description, the 
nerve required in a rider over this perilous route, where 
an average of fifteen miles per hour, including changes of 
horses, had to be made. 

Coming to the North Platte, regardless of the frequent 
swollen and turbulent condition of the stream, Billy had 
to plunge in and take his chances of getting to the other 
shore. Time and again he was carried down on the 
roaring waters, his horse's feet swept from under him, 
and met with disasters from which escape seemed impos- 
sible ; but he always gained the shore and lost very few 
horses bv drowning. 



2t>() HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Only a short time after entering upon his duties, upon 
reaching Three Crossings he found that the rider on the 
next division, who hud a route of eighty-six miles, had 
been killed during the night before, and he was called on 
to make the extra trip until another rider could be em- 
ployed. This was a request the compliance with which 
would involve the most taxing labors and an endurance 
few persons are capable of, nevertheless Billy was 
promptly on hand for the additional journey and reached 
Rocky Ridge, the limit of the second route, on time. 
This round trip, of three hundred and twenty-two miles, 
was made without a stop, except for meals and change of 
horses, and every station on the route was entered on 
time, the longest and best ridden pony express journey 
ever made. 

During his occupation as an express rider Billy met 
with many adventures, not alone in crossing the North 
Platte, but in running through a country infested with 
hostile Indians. Fortunately the country was an open 
one so that an ambush was impossible, but more than a 
score of times the Indians swarmed down upon him, and 
he escaped only by the superior swiftness of his horse, 
and his usual good luck in avoiding bullets and arrows. 

After the poney express had become a thoroughly es- 
tablished institution, frequently transporting money and 
other valuables, the Indians killed several riders whose 
packs yielded sufficient revenue to make a systematic 
robbery along the route profitable to the otherwise unem- 
ployed red devils. These depredations at length became 
so great that it was deemed advisable to withdraw the 
poney express for a time and run stages only as occasion 
demanded, until the Indians could be punished and made 
to abandon their robberies and murders. 

The condition of the country along the North Platte 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 



267 



had become so dangerous that it was next to impossible 
for the Overland Stage Company to hire stage drivers, 
although very high wages were offered. 

Billy, now being out of employment as a rider, prof- 
fered his services as a stage-driver, which, notwithstand- 
ing his youth, were gladly accepted. Directly after be- 
ginning this hazardous occupation he met with an adven 




The Attack on the Stage Coach. 
Uire, which, though it may not have given him a genuine 
fright, certainly did not contribute any to his estimation 
of the good times on the plains. 

While driving a stage between Split Rock and Three 
Crossings he was suddenly set upon by about five hun- 
dred Sioux whose arms, fortunately, consisted only of 
bows and arrows. Lieut. Flowers, a brave fellow who 
was then acting as assistant division agent, sat on the 



2(JH HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

"boot" beside Billy, and the stage was occupied 
by half a dozen well armed passengers. A terrible fight 
ensued, which for a time seemed to threaten certain de- 
struction to the occupants of the vehicle. Billy gave the 
horses the line while Lieut. Flowers applied the whip, 
.caving the passengers to look to the defence. Arrows 
fell around and struck the stage like hail, piercing the 
sides, striking the horses and dealing destruction gener- 
ally. Two of the passengers were killed and Lieut. Flow- 
ers was badly wounded in the shoulder. Billy grabbed 
the whip from the wounded officer and kept applying it 
briskly, shouting defiance in the meantime to his pursu- 
ers, and succeeded in driving into Three Crossings with- 
out further damage. 

This last trip had proved so disastrous that it was de- 
termined by the stage company not to rety any longer on 
the U. S. troops stationed at various posts in the West, 
but to use their own volunteer employes in an administra- 
tion of frontier vengeance on the murderous Indians. 
To accomplish this, requests for volunteers were made, 
which found response in all the men communicated with, 
about fifty in number. This force was placed under 
charge of Wild Bill and was accompanied by Billy. The 
expedition moved swiftly into the enemy's country as far 
as Clear Creek where the Indians were found encamped, 
unconscious of any lurking danger. 

Waiting until nightfall the impetuous stage employes 
descended upon the hostiles, charging through their camp 
with revolvers in hand. As the astonished Indians poured 
out of their wigwams they were met by a furious fire 
which literally swept ,up the entire camp, leaving scores 
of dead Indians around the smouldering fires and causing 
those that escaped the revolver to flee precipitately to the 
hills and hollows, where, owing to the darkness, they 
I'Ould not be followed. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 269 

The expedition was a complete success, for besides so 
severely punishing the hostiles, about two hundred head 
of horses were captured and brought safely to Sweetwa- 
ter Bridge. 



CHAPTER VII. 



Billy having performed such excellent services for the 
Express Company, upon his return from the Clear Creek 
expedition Alf. Slade tendered him the position of 
" extra," in which he was required to ride pony-express 
only during the times when an extra man was needed, 
which was so seldom that more than two-thirds of his 
time was unoccupied save as he himself chose to employ 
it. His pay, however, remained the same as that re- 
ceived by the regular riders. 

Located at Horse Shoe, in the center of a country 
abounding with large game, it was here that Billy first 
developed a desire for hunting, and by the constant use 
of firearms thereafter became the best rifle and pistol 
shot, as he confessedly is, of America to-day. The only 
competitor he acknowledged in the use of a pistol in 
1876 was Wild Bill, whose superior perhaps never lived, 
and when that wonderful scout, guide and spy was assas- 
sinated there were none, and are none now, to dispute 
with Buffalo Bill the honors of superior marksmanship. 

On one occasion, during the period of comparative 
idleness, Billy concluded to go upon a bear hunt, large 
numbers of bear being readily found in the adjacent 
hills. So, saddling his horse and taking a large rifle and 
two revolvers with him, he departed early in the morn- 
ing and proceeded up the Horseshoe Valley. Av abund- 



270 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ance of smaller game, such as antelope, sage-hens and 
jack rabbits, were constantly passing within gun-shot, 
but of these he had already killed great numbers, and 
consequently they were now left unmolested. 

Late in the evening, having as yet, found no bear, 
Billy decided to camp and renew his hunt on the mor- 
row, rather than return without some trophy of his suc- 
cess as a bear hunter. 

After building a fire he shot two sage-hens for supper, 
but just as he was in the act of picking one of the birds 
a horse's whinney was heard further up the mountain- 
side, which gave him serious apprehensions. Scattering 
the fire-brands he secreted his horse and went upon a 
tour of investigation to discover the character of his 
neighbors. 

It had now grown quite late, so that the gathering 
darkness gave some secrecy to his movements, and ap- 
proaching cautiously the spot indicated by the horse's 
signal, he soon discovered a dug-out, and several horses 
tethered about the abode. Approaching still nearer he 
heard the voices of several persons inside, conversing in 
a familiar tongue, so that he at once concluded they 
were trappers or hunters, and being white men, of course 
friends. 

Advancing to the door of the dug-out, Billy rapped on 
the puncheon entrance and received in reply the chal- 
lenge : 

" Who's thar?" 

"A white friend," Billy replied. 

At this the door was opened and by the light of a large 
fire blazing on the ample hearth, there was disclosed to 
his astonished gaze eight characters whose faces would 
have been an admirable study for the horrible-loving 
Dore. It was not only villainy pictured on their fea- 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL 



271 



tures, but an iniquity of human nature which might find 
comparison only in the darkest caverns of Hades, wherein 
sit the most hideous deformities of vicious wickedness. 




Long, grizzled beards, blearing eyes, flaring and beaked 

, noses, mouths like caves of despair, dark complexions, 

massive forms and bell-mouthed, deep, portentious voices. 



272 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Two of these faces Billy had seen before and knew 
they were worn by men discharged from the employ of 
the Overland Stage Company ; further than this, intui- 
tion admonished him that he had struck a den of horse- 
thieves. 

" Come in, don't be back'ard," was the invitation ex- 
tended, and appreciating the situation Billy had to appear 
at ease in order to conceal his real anxiety. 

" Whar 're you from, and who's with you?" 

" Oh, I'm from down the country ; been a bear hunt- 
ing by myself and hearing the whinneying of one of your 
horses as I was going into camp for the night, thought 
I'd see who was around ; so here I am." 

Billy delivered his information in a most unconcerned 
manner, though he could see serious trouble ahead un- 
less he could get out of the thieves' clutches by some 
strategy. 

"Well, whar's your boss?' 

"I left him tied right down here a few hundred yards, 
where I was camping. If } r ou don't object I'll leave my 
gun here and go back and bring him up, for I prefer 
company and would like to stay with you to-night." 

The cunning of this speech could not have been sur- 
passed by the oldest strategist in a frontier settlement. 
Parting with the gun Billy esteemed a small sacrifice if by 
so doing ho could save himself and horse. 

But the scheme, though never so clever, did not suc- 
ceed as the youthful hunter expected. Two of the vil- 
lains at once proffered their services to accompany him 
and assist in bringing the horse to the dug-out. 

This social proposition took away at least two-thirds 
of Billy's nerve, but he had to consent, and the three 
started off, going directly to the boy's camping place 
and securing the horse. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 273 

" There are a couple of sage-hens by the fire, which I 
was preparing to cook when I heard your horse nicker ; 
I guess I'll take them along for our supper." 

Thus speaking, Billy picked up the birds, and then the 
thieves led off, leading the boy's horse, toward their den. 

Billy fully realized the danger of his situation and 
knew that the adoption of some desperate expedient 
could alone save him from a terrible fate, for the thieves 
would certainly kill him rather than permit his escape 
and the certainty of his giving information of their ren- 
dezvous. So after debating with himself for a few mo- 
ments, he decided upon a plan which was put into imme- 
diate execution. Purposely, and yet as though by acci- 
dent, he dropped one of the sage-hens, and in picking it 
up so managed as to let his two villainous companions 
get slightly ahead. Quick as lightning he struck one of 
the thieves a stunning blow from behind with the butt of 
his heavy pistol, and as the other turned about to help 
his companion Billy shot him dead. Grabbing his horse, 
he leaped into the saddle and fled back down the moun- 
tain. The way, however, was so rugged, abounding in 
large stones and brush, that his progress was very slow. 

The shot was heard by the robbers in the dug-out, and 
they hurrie.d down to discover the cause. Coming upon 
the spot, they found a dead companion, and the one that 
was knocked down had sufficently recovered to explain 
the attack. 

Pursuit was begun at once, and as the thieves could 
travel much faster than Billy on horseback, contending 
with the obstacles of a mountain descent, they soon ap- 
proached so close that the brave boy leaped from hi« 
horse, giving the animal a smart stroke on the quarter 
which sent him scrambling on, while Billy secreted him- 
self behind a large tree, where the villains soon passed 



\ 



274 HEROES OF THE PLAINS 

him in their pursuit of the fleeing horse. A few moments 
later the shots from their revolvers convinced Billy that 
his pursuers believed they were still on his track, and 
hoped either to disable the horse or kill him in the sad- 
dle. When the sounds of the pursuit had died away 
he abandoned the sheltering tree and set off with all 
possible speed for Horse-Shoe, which he reached in an ex- 
hausted and almost famished condition after twelve hours 
hard travel. 

Reporting the particulars of his adventure to Slade, a 
party of ten was made up at once, headed by Slade him- 
self and guided by Billy, to go in pursuit of the thieves. 
A rapid travel of six hours brought them to the scene of 
conflict, where a new-made grave was found which covered 
Billy's victim, but upon reaching the dug-out they found 
that place abandoned and nothing left to indicate an in- 
tended return. After trying in vain to find the trail, the 
party abandoned the idea of catching the robbers and re- 
turned to Horse-Shoe. Billy was complimented in a most 
deserving way for the cunning and bravery he displayed 
in eluding the thieves, and especially for expending a pis- 
tol cathartic on one of the number. 

Directly after this incident he was put on the road again 
as express rider, his alternate being Wild Bill. These 
two rode between Three Crossings and Red Buttes, mak- 
ing better time than any other riders ever on the road. 
Both, however, had grown so rapidly that their weight 
exceeded the limit required by the express company, and 
on this account they were discharged. But after a thirty 
days' experiment the company found that it was impos- 
sible to get other riders who could make the time, so that 
Billy and his particular friend, Wild Bill, were again em- 
ployed, riding under an exception to the general order. 
Here they remained until the tocsin of civil war summoned 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL 275 

brave hearts to the front and changed nearly every man's 
occupatioa. 



CHAPTER Vm. 

Much excitement having been created in eastern Kan- 
sas by the Ft. Sumpter attack, and also learning of his 
mother's general ill health, these two causes induced 
Billy to give up his position as an express rider and hurry 
home. Mrs. Cody entertained strong Union sentiments, 
being greatly influenced therein by the outrages she had 
been compelled to endure at the hands of pro-slavery 
men, all of whom were now pronounced Southern sympa- 
thizers on account of the slavery issue. 

A number of Free-State men who had suffered perse- 
cution from [Missouri pro-slavery incursionists, concluded 
that the inauguration of war, involving much of the issue 
that had been fought out between Kansas and Missouri, 
gave them license to cross the slave State border for re- 
taliatory purposes. In pursuance of this conclusion Capt. 
Chandler enlisted twenty-five men, Billy being one of the 
number, to invade Missouri and capture promising horses. 
This design, though having some of the appearances of 
a criminal purpose, cannot affect Buffalo Bill's honor 
now for several reasons, chief among which was the very 
strong feeling that existed among the Free-State peopic 
of Kansas against the Pro-Slavery party of Missouri. 
No family ever suffered more from iniquitous mobs than 
the Cody family ; robbed time and again ; insulted day 
after day ; Mr. Cody foully murdered ; their stock 
driven off ; maturing crops devastated and suffering 



271) HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

every conceivable outrage, it was not only natural bu* 
proper that the remaining members of the Cody fanulY 
should regard retaliation as righteous. Furthe* than 
this, Billy was young in years and influenced by the spe-- 
cious representations of Chandler who gave to his intended 
acts all the color of law and justice ; these several considera- 
tions moved him to become a member of this independ- 
ent band and share alike its fortunes and reverses. 

In the latter part of July, according to a preconcerted 
arrangement, Chandler's company met at Westport, 
Missouri, and having received their orders every man 
went upon a forage through the neighborhood, returning 
at night with nearly fifty head of first-class horses, taken 
promiscuously from people in Jackson county. After 
this bold confiscation the company made their way over 
into Kansas at Wyandotte where the party separated 
with an agreement to meet again at the expiration of one 
week in Leavenworth. 

After two or three similar incursions the government 
took a part in the suppression of the enterprise, and Mrs. 
Cody learning the true nature of the forays counseled 
with Billy against lending his aid to such undertakings; 
admonishing him that the occupation was dishonorable 
and he must abandon it. This kind and excellent advico 
served to enlighten him as to the demerits of such retali- 
ation and he refused to accompany subsequent expe- 
ditions. 

Later in the fall he carried dispatches between 
Leavenworth and Ft. Lamed, Kansas, and afterward 
assisted George Long in purchasing horses for the 
government. Succeeding this employment he became a 
member of Capt. Tuff's Red Legged Scouts, which was a 
company composed exclusively of scouts and well-known 
frontier characters. This organization did most effective 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 277 

service in the protection of Kansas and fighting the bor- 
der guerrillas. When not in active duty on the field they 
were employed in carrying military dispatches between 
Forts Leavenworth, Lamed, Gibson and Dodge. 

In the spring of 1863 Billy was engaged to conduct a 
merchant train from Leavenworth to Denver, which being 
conducted through safely, he received a letter on the day 
of his arrival there informing him of the serious illness of 
his mother. Instantly he saddled his horse and made all 
possible speed homeward, riding almost day and night 
until he reached the bedside of his beloved parent. He 
was deeply distressed to find his mother quite ill, but not 
so ill as to banish hope for her recovery. But her sick- 
ness gave him such anxiety that he refused to leave 
home, remaining to minister to her comfort and necessi- 
ties. When the cold winds and sudden changes of fall 
ushered in the new season, Mrs. Cody gradually grew 
worse despite the most unremitting care, and on the 22d 
day of November she died. 

Billy could find nothing to console him for the loss of 
a parent so well beloved ; there was a void in his nature 
which no engagement could fill ; aimlessly he wandered 
about the old homestead with the face of his dead 
mother, pale and pitiful, ever before his confused eyes ; 
there, before him, were her noble acts ; her brave, self- 
sacrificing disposition, the source from whence he drew 
the very nourishment of his existence, the goodly counsel 
that made his manhood. How many tears he shed over 
her grave ; how many fresh flowers he planted in the 
coming spring ; how many hours he spent beside her last 
earthly resting place and bedewed it with copious offer- 
ings welling up from the springs of his heart ! There, 
under the prairie sod, where the winds gambol ceaselessly 
with waving grasses and spontaneous flowers ; under the 



278 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

branches of a tree planted by the hands that once carried 
water to her feverish lips and were clasped with hers in 
prayer, sleeps a pioneer's wife and a true hero's mother ; 
waiting the judgment day ; waiting that last reunion and 
forgetting the sorrowful experiences of this eventful life. 

The family, bereft of a mother, was not separated, for 
one of Billy's sisters having been married in the early 
part of the preceding spring, her husband settled on the 
homestead and kept the sisters of the family together. 
But Billy was now doubly anxious to do something that 
would divert his mind from the loss which gave him such 
heart-breaking grief ; and yet there seemed to be some 
strange influence trying to hold him near the sacred earth 
which enclosed the remains of his soul's affection. 

Some weeks after this most melancholy incident Billy 
went to Leavenworth and there for the first time in his 
life, acting under the false impression that inebriety 
would mitigate his grief, deliberately drank to excess and 
naturally fell among wicked and depraved characters. 
While on a protracted spree and unconscious of what he 
was doing, he joined Jennison's Seventh Kansas Jay- 
hawkers, which had recently been organized for operation 
in Missouri, but they were soon called upon to perform 
some hard service in Tennessee and Mississippi. 

In the spring of 1864, Billy moved with his regiment 
to Memphis and from there to Tupelo, Miss., where, Gen. 
A. J. Smith having command, he participated in a hard 
fought battle with Gen. Forrest, the Confederates being 
badly whipped. After some skirmishing in Mississippi, 
Billy's regiment was ordered back to Missouri, entering 
the State at Cape Girardeau. The Confederate General 
Price had just entered upon his great raid in Missouri, 
and Jennison's regiment was ordered to push forward 
and either intercept the enemy or harass his rear until 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 279 

Gen. Curtis could operate in conjunction with Gen. 
Smith. 

The courage, cunning and woodcraft displayed by 
Billy had not escaped the soldierly eye of Gen. Smith, 
and as brave and strictly reliable men were now urgently 
needed, he was made a non-commissioned officer and 
placed on detached service as scout. In this position he 
did not confine himself to the usual duties of scout, but 
voluntarily performed the additional and more dangerous 
service of spy, for which he was well qualified. Serving 
in this double capacity he obtained much valuable in- 
formation and soon became the pride of Gen. Smith's 
corps, and was regarded as one of the best general utility 
men in the whole army, never hesitating to perform a 
service however great the danger might be. 

While riding through Southern Missouri an incident 
occurred which well illustrates the magnanimity of his 
character. Being more than a mile in advance of the 
command, he came to a thrifty appearing farm-house at 
which he alighted for a drink of water. The only occu- 
pants of the house at the time were an elegant elderly 
lady and her beautiful daughter. These two ladies were 
at first very much frightened at the appearance of a Yan- 
kee, but nevertheless exhibited their courteous dispo- 
sitions by giving him water and setting out a chair with 
genuine hospitality, in which they asked him to rest. 
The elderly lady, in questioning Billy concerning the Union 
forces, was informed that the army was now less than 
one mile off and would soon march past the house. At 
this much fear was entertained and expressed by the 
ladies lest the soldiers should sack the premises and do 
violence to the place, knowing they were in an enemy' si 
country. But he quieted their solicitude by begging; 
them to be unconcerned, as he would see that they were 
not molested. 

17 



280 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

As the army came up, preceded by the commander and 
staff officers, Billy placed himself at the entrance of the 
house to act as sentry and guard to protect the premises. 
A moment later several soldiers attempted to enter, but he 
ordered them to stop, declaring at the same time that he 
had been placed there to protect that property from mo- 
lestation. Not doubting his authority the soldiers pass- 
ed on and not a thing was taken from the place. 

The ladies felt so grateful to their protector that they 
prepared an excellent dinner for him, to which his hunger 
was paying tribute when suddenly three men sprang into 
the house and leveled their guns at him. 

"Hold on; .don't hurt this gentleman; he is our 
friend !" cried the ladies to the three men, who were the 
husband and two brothers of the family. 

The guns were immediately lowered and when the situ- 
ation had been explained to them each of the men shook 
Billy warmly by the hand and thanked him heartily for 
his kind interference. The dinner being concluded under 
the happiest circumstances, Billy bade adieu to the family 
and by fast riding soon overtook the command. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Young Cody remained with the army in Missouri, en- 
gaging in the conflicts between the Union forces and Gen. 
Price until the winter of 1864-5 put an end to the military 
operations and both armies went into winter quarters. 
During this period of inactivity Billy visited St. Louis 
and by good luck was detailed for special service at head- 
quarters. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 281 

Winter is always a gay season in the city with its the- 
atres, balls, society gatherings, sleigh-riding and various 
recreative sports, and Billy being of a most entertaining 
and jovial character was very soon introduced to many 
charming ladies of St. Louis society. Among the large 
number of elegant and beautiful girls whose acquaintance 
he made was one specially attractive to him, she being 
the center of a large group of admirers, all of whom were 
striving for the honor of her smiles and preference. The 
young lady's name was Louisa Frederici, and she was the 
daughter of an old and influential citizen. Not only was 
she well connected and a lady of most admirable 
character, but she also possessed a beauty of face and 
perfection of form which were well nigh irresistible ; 
large, lustrous, brown eyes, beautifully arched with ele- 
gant brows ; skin fair as the lily, a mouth which seemed to 
invite kisses, and hair profuse as a Naiad's and black as a 
raven's wing. 

It is only proper to say that the first time Billy met 
the beautiful Louisa he fell in love too deep to ever hope 
for escape. But always a man of fortunate circumstances, 
his good luck did not forsake him in his love-making. It 
is unusual to descant upon the beauty of a man, but I 
will not be charged with hypercritical enthusiasm when I 
say that Billy was then, as he is now, certainly one of the 
handsomest men in America, a claim which I am sure all 
the ladies will maintain, gathering their opinion from the 
portrait given of him in this book. Miss Louisa thought 
she had never met a finer-appearing gentleman, and to say 
that Billy's all-absorbing affection was reciprocated is 
but to declare what the sequel proved. 

Before the winter expired he had made a frank ac- 
knowledgment of his love and elicited a response which 
led to an engagement, but while overjoyed at his excel- 



282 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

lent success he realized that he was illy prepared to take 
care of a wife just then ; so without fixing the date for 
their marriage the lover went back to his duties and re- 
mained with his command until the war closed. He then 
accepted the situation of stage driver proffered him by 
Bill Trotter, who was agent for that division of the road 
between Kearney and Plum Creek, the route which led 
over the same ground where Billy killed his first Indian. 

He continued to drive the stage until he had saved up 
several hundred dollars, and feeling now that he was in 
proper position for a consummation of his great desire, 
returned to St. Louis, where, on the 6th of March, 1866, 
he was married to Miss Frederici, the ceremony being 
performed at the bride's residence before a large assem- 
blage of friends. 

After receiving many congratulations, the couple took 
passage on a Missouri river steamer for Kansas, whicli 
was to be their home. 

During the bridal trip Billy was recognized by three oi 
four passengers who had been pro-slavery men before th< 
war and Southern sympathizers throughout that event- 
ful period. Hate and vengeance still rankled in theii 
bosoms, and though afraid themselves to attack the 
brave young Benedict, they found means to commu- 
nicate with some of their guerrilla friends that Bill Cody, 
the scout and fighter, was on board and might fall an 
easy prey to them. 

When the steamer landed at a desolate point on the 
river seventy-live miles west of Lexington, to take on a 
fresh supply of wood, more than a dozen guerrillas ap- 
peared on the hank and tried to hoard the boat, but the 
captain frustrated their designs by ordering the stage- 
plank drawn in and then hacking the steamer out before 
the guerrillas could gain the deck. Several shots were 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 283 

fired at the boat, but no special damage resulted. Billy 
had anticipated trouble, owing to remarks he had over- 
heard from a party that had engaged passage at Lexing- 
ton, and when the guerrillas appeared on the bank, in- 
stead of keeping himself close in his stateroom, he took 
a position at the head of the cabin stairs, and with a 
pistol in each hand, stood unconcernedly waiting for the 
approach of his enemies. Had they succeeded in getting 
on board there would have been one of the liveliest fights 
since Wild Bill met the McCandlas gang. 

When Cody and his beautiful bride reached Leaven- 
worth they were met at the landing by a long line of 
carriages, which they were soon apprised contained 
nearly a hundred of his friends, who, having learned of 
his marriage and passage on the steamer, had made large 
preparations to give him a grand reception. A band of 
music headed the carriage procession and the party were 
driven directly to the house of one of Billy's married 
sisters, where the day and evening were spent in a truly 
Western jollification, feasting, dancing and music, the 
festivities being participated in by the best society of 
Leavenworth, among whom Billy enjoyed great pop- 
ularity. 

Without wasting more time in a bridal tour, young 
Cody went to Salt Creek Valley, where he rented the 
house once occupied by his mother, and established a 
hotel known as the Golden Rule House, which he con- 
ducted with profit until the following September, when 
his old desire for the freedom and stirring adventures of 
the plains induced him to sell out and seek employment 
as a scout. 

At this time the Kansas Pacific railroad was in process 
of construction and had reached a point as far west as 
Salina, which had become an active place, and thither 



284 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Billy directed his way. Reaching Junction City, he met 
Wild Bill, who was then scouting for the government, 
with headquarters at Fort Ellsworth (Fort Harker). 
By advice of the latter he proceeded to the post at Ells- 
worth, where his application for the position of scout was 
favorably received and he at once went on duty. 

While scouting and guiding parties between Fts. Ells- 
worth and Fletcher, in which service he was employed 
for a period of several months, he met Gen. Custer, who 
had been ordered to accompany Gen. Hancock on an In- 
dian campaign. Custer, with ten men, was at Ellsworth 
and desired a guide to conduct him to Ft. Larned, a dis- 
tance of sixty-five miles. Cody was selected by the 
commanding officer of the post to accompany the General, 
who was to start on the following day. When the time 
for departure arrived Cody appeared riding a small, 
mouse-colored mule while Gen. Custer and his escort 
were mounted on fine, high-mettled steeds that were 
champing their bits with impatience to be off. Gen. 
Custer laughed heartily at the scout's sorry-looking pal- 
frey and declared that it would be impossible for the " lit- 
tle mouse" to travel as rapidly as he Avishcd. Billy, 
however, insisted on riding the mule, and after a few 
hours of fast traveling the little animal began to show its 
bottom by keeping the advance and at length put so 
much distance between him and the fine war steeds that 
Billy had to rein up from time to time in order that the 
General might overtake him. The best laugh, therefore, 
was with him who laughed last, and Custer was so aston- 
ished that he wanted to trade his fine horse for the sorry 
little mule, for with Custer the chief consideration was 
rapid travel regardless of the means employed — but he 
couldn't get the mule. 

Billy's social disposition and contagious good humor 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 285 

won the admiration of Custer, who expressed much anx- 
iety to engage his services, telling him that a position 
would be open for him at any time he desired to join the 
command. The friendship thus formed was cultivated 
in after years and was intimate until the pathetic but 
heroic death of that singularly brave officer. 



CHAPTER X. 

Having guided Gen. Custer and his staff to Ft. Larned 
Cody, on his return, was ordered to report at Ft. 
Hays. About this time a large band of Indians had at- 
tacked the working force on the Kansas Pacific railroad 
and besides killing six men they had driven off a hundred 
head of horses and mules. 

Major Ames of the Tenth Cavalry (colored) was or- 
dered to take one company and a mountain howitzer and 
pursue the marauders. Cody was selected as scout and 
guide to the expedition, which set out on the trail leading 
along the Saline river. 

On the second day after leaving Hays the Indian camp 
was discovered on the opposite side of Saline river and 
preparation s were hastily made for the attack . An oppor- 
tunity was now to be offered for the colored troops to 
manifest their pluck, a large amount of which they seem- 
ed to carry on their tongues which wagged continually 
with expressions of impatience to get "turned loose on 
de red coyotes." The Howitzer was stationed on a 
knoll overlooking the Indian camp and placed under a 
guard of twenty men, while the main portion of the com- 
pany crossed over to begin the attack. Scarcely had the 



280 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

crossing been made when a terrible yelling was heard in 
the rear, and upon looking back Major Ames beheld the 
colored flower of his army fleeing with all possible haste, 
hatless and without arms, before a hundred Indians that 
had charged on the guard and were now dancing around 
the captured howitzer. Major Ames had to take up just 
a little of the precious time in swearing at his cowardly 
men who had fled at the approach of the enemy without 
firing a gun ; but he soon ordered a charge back up the 
knoll and easily re-took the gun, but the Major was bad- 
ly wounded in the attack and the command thereafter 
practically fell on Cody. 

There were more Indians than had been anticipated, and 
the command was not sufficient to cope with them ; so af- 
ter a hard fight of about two hours it became a serious 
matter, not so much how to disperse the enemy as how to 
manage an escape, of which there seemed for a time 
small probability. A retreat was begun in which the 
colored troops unlimbered themselves in fine style, mak- 
ing good progress despite the dodging they practiced. 
Night approached at last like a generous friend and by 
the protection the darkness afforded about one-half the 
company succeeded in reaching Hays, the remainder having 
fallen victims to the victorious Indians, who, however, had 
suffered the loss of a goodly number of their warriors. 

Returning from a decidedly disastrous expedition Cody 
declared that he never wanted to go •' hunting Indians 
again with colored poachers." 

From Ft. Hays he carried dispatches to Ft. Harker, 
and having nothing special to engage him there, he vis- 
ited Ellsworth where Wild Bill still made his headquar- 
ters. While on this visit he made the acquaintance of a 
Western character named William Rose, a railroad con- 
tractor and a man of many schemes. His hobby just at 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 287 

this particular time chanced to be the location of a town, 
along the railroad, in which he expected to make a for- 
tune selling corner lots. He disclosed his enterprise to 
Cody, whom he knew by reputation, as did every other 
person in the West, and the matter was presented with 
such ingenious argument that Billy entered into the 
scheme inflated with the promises of the undertaking. 
Accordingly a sight was selected on the west side of Big 
Creek, one mile from Ft. Hays, which was duly laid out 
into blocks, with a large public square in the center, the 
whole being handsomely drawn on a plat of gorgeous 
colors. To give the place a start the two enterprising 
enthusiasts built the first house, which was a store, and 
stocked it with a good line of general merchandise. The 
town was then duly christened " Rome," because the 
place was expected to "howl." A lot was donated to 
every one who would erect a building thereon and this 
generous proposition had a most gratifying effect, for 
building began with such a rush that in one month's 
time there were two hundred frame residences, four 
stores, and about twenty saloons. Lots were selling 
rapidly for fifty dollars each and things were swimmingly 
prosperous with the firm of Cody & Rose. Visions of 
incalculable riches hung before their delighted imagina- 
tion and happiness was pictured by an approaching abil- 
ity to buy up the country, including the railroad then 
under construction. Rome was howling ! But just as 
the dream was approaching realization, a gentleman 
named Webb — Dr. Webb — stopped in town and enquir- 
ing for the proprietors of Rome, was directed to Cody & 
Rose's store, where he found the two gentlemen, as 
asual, figuring their prospective gains. 

" Got a booming town here I see," said Dr. Webb by 
vay <of tfuxoduction. 



fob HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

" Yes, got the best town now and the biggest city here- 
after on the road. Want to buy some lots?" responded 
Cody. 

" Well, I don't know as I want to buy any lots, but I 
would like to go into partnership with you." 

' ' Partnership ! why, great heavens, man, we don 't want 
any partners." 

1 ' I thought you might want to take me in since I am 
agent for the K. P. road sent out to locate towns on the 
route." 

" That's all right, but we've got the bulge on you here 
and can take care of this town by ourselves." 

"Well, if that's your decision, I guess I'll have to start 
another town alongside of you just by way of competi- 
tion." 

On the following day Dr. Webb went one mile west of 
Rome and laid out a town which he named Hays City. 
But Rome being altogether better situated than Hays and 
having such an admirable beginning, the Doctor made a 
proposition to donate two lots in his new place to every 
one who would erect a building thereon, and in addition 
to this, speaking as if by authority of the railroad officials, 
he made the announcement that the company intended to 
locate and build their machine shops, round-house and 
depot at Hays City, leaving Rome in a permanent de- 
cline. 

These flattering representations so seriously affected 
the firm of Cody & Rose that during the next few days, 
when they saw the whole town of Rome either on rollers 
or on wagons moving over to Hays City, they would have 
closed out their prospects for two cents and a half on the 
dollar — perhaps much less even than that. Very soon 
the two dispirited town-owners were sitting in front of 
their store, now the sole remaining building of the once 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 289 

flourishing town of Rome, contemplating the mutability 
of human expectation ; the presto, change ! from riches 
to the dull, solemn fact of comparative poverty. How 
many times they said to themselves and to each other, 
" Had we only taken Webb in as a partner !" 

However, it was some consolation to receive from their 
successful rival a deed to four of the best lots in Hays, 
but this generous and balsamic application to their 
wounded anticipations did little to mitigate their feelings 
of poverty. 

During the short period that Rome was on the rise 
Billy had fitted up the rear part of his store and occupied 
it with his wife and infant daughter, Arta, but when the 
bankrupting hegira to Hays City set in Mrs. Cody paid a 
visit to her relations in St. Louis, where she remained for 
some time and until a comfortable home was prepared 
for her at Hays. 

Abandoning all hope of making anything out of town 
enterprises, Cody and his friend Rose took a sub-contract 
for grading five miles of road west of Big Creek, and 
while prosecuting this work Cody came into possession of 
a horse which afterward figured conspicuously in his in- 
teresting adventures. As Rose thoroughly understood 
railroad contract work he was left to boss the men while 
Billy performed an equally important work, furnishing 
them with meat. To procure these provisions it was 
necessary to hunt almost constantly, relying entirely on 
buffaloes, which were less plentiful in that section than 
in the country through which he had ridden the pony 
express. 

On one occasion as he was starting out on his favorite 
horse, Old Brigham by name, he saw half a dozen well- 
mounted officers approaching from Ft. Hays, who were 
out for a buffalo hunt. Billy carried with him a breech- 



290 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

loading needle gun which he called " Lucretia Borgia," 
an excellent weapon ; but old Brigham's caparisons con- 
sisted solely of an ancient blind bridle. To the officers, 
who ascertained that Cody was also out after buffaloes, 
this " outfit," a sleepy, angular, old horse, without sad- 
dle, bottle or other accessories, appeared so ridiculous 
that they accosted him : 

" Young man, ain't that a sorry team you're driving? 
You don't expect to ride down any buffaloes with an old 
crow-bait like that, do you?" 

" Don't know, might catch up with the calves by 
pushing hard on the reins," answered Billy. 

The party had ridden out on the prairie scarcely two 
miles when they discovered a herd of eleven buffaloes 
making rapidly across the country toward a branch 
of Big Creek. The well mounted officers started after 
the game with all the speed they could get out of their 
fine horses, expecting to run the buffaloes down within 
two or three miles. Instead of following the officers, 
Billy pulled the reins on Old Brigham, who uncoupled 
himself in fine style, and struck out at full speed on a dif- 
ferent course from that pursued by the other party. Cody 
knew from the direction and speed of the buffaloes about 
the point they would strike the creek, so heading for an 
objective point he struck the game fully a mile in ad- 
vance of the officers. Throwing off the old blind bridle 
he let his well-trained horse come alongside the herd, 
and when he would shoot a buffalo Brigham would run 
alongside another, and working thus as if by rule Billy 
killed the entire herd in twelve shots before the aston- 
ished officers came within firing distance. 

"You sec," said Cody, as the well mounted amateur 
hunters came up to where he had dismounted and was 
now standing by his unbridled horse, " I pushed well on 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 291 

the reins, a thing which you, perhaps, neglected to do. 
However, as I have got all the game, I don't want you to 
go back empty handed, so just help yourselves to tongues 
and tenderloins." 

The superior officer in the squad then remarked : ' ' My 
name is Graham, Captain of the Tenth Cavalry ; now I 
want to know your name." 

* ' Want to know my name ? Why, it' s nothing but Bill 
Cody." 

"Bill Cody! that they call Billy? Good gracious! 
I've heard of you more than of any other man in the West. 
Well, I am truly glad to see you. Let me introduce you 
to Lieutenants Ezekiel, Reed and Emmick, they all be- 
long to my regiment." 

" Glad to meet you, gentlemen, for I'm something of 
an army man myself." 

" I want to say, Billy, or Mi*. Cody, that I have heard 
much concerning your peculiar qualifications as a rider, 
hunter and fighter, but heretofore I have been inclined to 
discredit the stories told of you. But let me say ndw, 
that after seeing you perform the remarkable feat of kill- 
ing eleven buffaloes in about three minutes, from a horse 
without bridle or saddle, that I am prepared to believe al- 
most anything." 

" Why, Captain, that is no trick at all on my part, for 
old Brigham (that's my horse's name) is the one that did 
the hunting, I only did the shooting." 

This manner of conversation continued until the wagons 
sent out from Billy's camp came up to haul off the buffa- 
loes. But before separating the officers extended a very 
cordial invitation to Cody to visit them at Ft. Hays, where 
they expected to be stationed during the summer. 



292 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



CHAPTER XI. 



Having completed the contract for grading five miles 
of road-bed, Billy was looking for another engagement 
when he received a proposition from the Goddard Broth- 
ers, who were boarding twelve hundred construction em- 
ployes, to furnish them with meat. The amount required 
was five buffaloes per day, to procure which involved 
hard riding, but the labor was small compared with the 
danger to be incurred from the Indians who were killing 
every white man they could find in that section. Never- 
theless, an offer of five hundred dollars per month for the 
service made Billy unmindful of the exertion or peril, and 
he went to work under contract to supply all the meat 
required. During this engagement he had no end of won- 
derful escapes from bands of Indians, not a few of whom 
he sacrificed to secure his own safety. By actual count 
he also killed, under his contract with the Goddard Broth- 
ers', four thousand two hundred and eighty buffaloes. To 
appreciate the extent of this slaughter, by approximate 
measurement, these buffaloes, if laid on the ground end to 
end, would make a line more than five miles long, and if 
placed sideways, on top of each other, they would make 
a pile over two miles high. 

By special arrangements all the heads of the largest 
buffaloes killed by Bill were preserved and delivered to 
the K. P. railroad company, by which they were turned 
into excellent advertisements for the road. Many of 
these heads may still be seen in prominent places marking 
the center of an oval board containing the advertisement 
of the road. 

So well had Billy performed his part of the contract 
that the men connected with the Kansas Pacific road g^ve 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 293 

him the appellation by which he is still known through- 
out the world, "Buffalo Bill." 

A record of all his battles with the Indians during this 
period of professional hunting would be so long that few 
could read it without tiring, for there is a sameness 
connected with attacks and escapes which it is difficult to 
recite in language always sparkling with interest. But 
Buffalo Bill being a brave man under all circumstances 
when bravery is essential, an£ cautious when that element 
subserved the purpose better, was almost daily in a posi- 
tion of danger, and many times escaped almost like the 
Hebrew children from the furnace. 

So justly celebrated had Buffalo Bill now become that 
Kit Carson, on his return from Washington City in the fall 
of 1867, stopped at Hays City to make his acquaintance. 
Carson was so well pleased with Bill's appearance and 
excellent social qualifications that he remained for several 
days the guest of the celebrated buffalo killer and scout. 
Upon parting, the renowned Kit expressed the warmest 
admiration for his host and conveyed his consideration 
by inviting Bill to visit him at Fort Lyon, Colorado, 
where he intended making his home. But the death of 
Carson the following May prevented the visit. 

Like every other man who achieves distinction by su- 
perior excellence in some particular calling, Buffalo Bill 
(who had now shed the familiar title of Billy), had his 
would-be rivals as a buffalo killer. Among this number 
was a well-known scout named Billy Comstock, who 
sought to dispute the claim of champion. Comstock was 
quite famous among the Western army, being one of the 
oldest scouts and most skillful hunters. He was mur- 
dered by Indians seven years after the event about to be 
recorded, while scouting for Custer. 

Buffalo Bill was somewhat startled one day upon re- 



294 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ceipt of ti letter from a well-known array officer offering 
to wager the sura of $500 that Comstoek could kill a 
greater number of buffaloes in a certain given time, 
under stipulated conditions, than any other man living. 
This was, of course, a challenge to Buffalo Bill, who, 
upon mentioning the facts, found hundreds of friends 
anxious to accept the wager, or who would have put up 
any amount that Bill's claim to the championship could 
not be successfully disputed .by any person living. 

The bet was promptly accepted, and the following 
conditions agreed to : A large herd of buffaloes being 
found, the two men were to enter the drove at eight 
o'clock, a. m. , and employ their own tactics for killing un- 
til four o'clock, p. m., at the end of which time the one 

having killed the largest number was to be declared win- 
es o 

ner of the wager and also the "champion buffalo killer 
of America." To determine the result of the hunt, a 
referee was to accompany each of the hunters on horse- 
back and keep the score. 

The place selected for the trial was twenty miles east 
of Sheridan, Kansas, where the buffaloes were so plenti- 
ful that thousands could be found without difficulty, and 
the country being a level prairie rendered the hunt easy 
and afforded an excellent view for those who wished to 
witness the exciting contest. 

There was so much excitement created by a general 
publication of the match that when the day arrived 
several hundred visitors were present, among the crowd 
being an excursion party of one hundred people from St. 
Louis, which was accompanied by Buffalo Bill's wife and 
youngest daughter. 

Comstoek was well mounted on a strong, spirited 
horse and carried a 42-calibre Henry rirle. Buffalo Bill 
appeared on his famous horse, Old Brigham, and in this 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 295 

he certainly had great advantage, for this sagacious ani- 
mal knew all about his rider's style of hunting buffaloes, 
and therefore needed no reining. 

The party rode out on the prairie at an early hour in 
the morning and soon discovered a herd of about one 
hundred buffaloes grazing on a beautiful stretch of 
ground just suited for the work in hand. The two hunt- 
ers rode rapidly forward accompanied by their referees, 
while the spectators followed a hundred yards in the 
rear. At a given signal the two contestants dashed into 
the center of> the herd, dividing it so that Bill took the 
right half while Comstock pursued those on the left. 

Now the sport began in magnificent style amid the 
cheers of excited spectators, who rode as near the contest- 
ants as safety and non-interference permitted. Buffalo 
Bill, after killing the first half-dozen stragglers in the 
herd, began an exhibition of his wonderful skill and 
strategy ; by riding at the head of the herd and pressing 
the leaders hard toward the left, he soon got the drove 
to circling, killing those that were disposed to break off 
on a direct line. In a short time witnesses of this novel 
contest saw Buffalo Bill driving his portion of the herd in 
a beautiful circle and in less than half an hour he had all 
those in his bunch, numbering thirty-eight, lying around 
within a very small compass. 

Comstock, in the meantime, had done some fine work, 
but by attacking the rear of his herd he had to ride di- 
rectly away from the crowd of anxious spectators. He 
succeeded in killing twenty-three which, however, lay ir- 
regularly over a space three* miles in extent, and there- 
fore while he killed fewer than his rival, he at the same 
time manifested less skill, which, by contrast, showed 
most advantageously for Buffalo Bill. 

All the party having returned to the apex of a beauti- 

18 



296 HEUOES OF THE PLAINS. 

ful knoll, a large number of champagne bottles were pro- 
duced and amid volleys of flying corks toasts were drunk 
to the buffalo heroes, Buffalo Bill being especially lauded 
and now a decided favorite. 

But these ceremonies were suddenly interrupted by the 
appearance of another small herd of buffalo cows and 
calves, into which the two contestants charged precipi- 
tately. In this "round" Bill scored eighteen, while 
Comstock succeeded in killing only fourteen. 

The superiority of Buffalo Bill was now so plainly 
shown that his backers, as well as himself, saw that he 
could afford to give an exhibition of his wonderful horse- 
manship, while continuing the contest, without fear of 
losing the stakes. Accordingly, after again regaling 
themselves with champagne and other appetizing acces- 
sories, the cavalcade of interested spectators rode north- 
ward for a distance of three miles, where they discov- 
ered a large herd of buffaloes quietly browsing. The 
party then halted, and Buffalo Bill, removing both sad- 
dle and bridle from Old Brigham, rode off on his well- 
trained horse, directing him solely by motions of his 
hand. Reaching the herd by circling and coming down 
upon it from the windward quarter, the two rival hunters 
rushed upon the surprised buffaloes and renewed the 
slaughter. After killing thirteen of the animals, Buffalo 
Bill drove one of the largest buffaloes in the herd toward 
the party, seeing which many ladies who were among the 
interested spectators became very much frightened, show- 
ing as much trepidation, perhaps, as they would have man- 
ifested had the buffalo been an enraged lion. But when 
the ponderous, shaggy-headed beast came within a few 
yards of the party Bill shot it dead, thus giving a grand 
coup d'etat to the day's sport, which closed with this 
magnificent exhibition of skill and daring. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 299 

The day having now been far spent, and time called, it 
was found that the score stood thus : Buffalo Bill, sixty- 
nine ; Comstock, forty-six. The former was therefore 
declared winner and entitled to the championship as the 
most skillful buffalo-slayer in America. 



CHAPTER XII. 



After the great buffalo killing match the name of 
Buffalo Bill became familiar all over the country, and his 
exploits, generally, were a topic people never grew tired 
of discussing. AH his great battles with the Indians and 
valuable services as a scout were re-told, not only at the 
fireside, but also by the military operating in the West. 
He was beginning to be appreciated. 

In the spring of 1868 a violent Indian war broke out 
in central and western Kansas, which assumed such a 
serious aspect that Gen. Sheridan, in order to be on the 
field, took up his headquarters at Hays City. Directly 
after making this move the General sent for Buffalo Bill 
and in person tendered him a position as scout and guide, 
which was immediately accepted. He was then ordered 
to report to Capt. Parker, at Fort Larned, for services. 

Knowing that he would be absent from home for a 
long time, he sent his wife and child to Leavenworth, 
where he would have better opportunities of visiting them 
than elsewhere. 

Reaching Ft. Larned Bill was appointed a special scout 
to Gen. Hazen who had just arranged for a trip to Ft. 
Sarah, thirty miles distant. Near Larned there were sev- 
eral bands of Comanche and Kiowa Indians who had not 



300 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

yet joined their hostile brothers, but were seeking a pre- 
text for so doing, especially as the fort was garrisoned by 
only two companies of infantry and one of cavalry. The 
head chief of these restless Comanches was Satanta, an 
old villain who has since figured in Texas outrages and 
been duly hanged according to a righteous law. 

Gen. Hazen started for Ft. Sarah in a six-mule wagon 
under an infantry escort of twenty men , with Buffalo Bill 
as guide. The trip was made in safety, but as the General 
concluded to go on to Ft. Harker without a guide, Bill 
was ordered to return to Larned. Mounting his mule he 
was making good time toward the post, when about 
half way, near Pawnee Rock, forty Indians came rushing 
down on him. Instead of presenting their arms, however, 
they presented their hands, saying, " How ! How ! " with 
such warmth of feeling that Bill accepted their greeting, 
but instead of shaking his hand they jerked him with such 
violence that he was almost unseated, while others in the 
party grabbed the reins of his bridle and started to lead 
the mule off. Bill was at an unreasonable disadvantage, 
but nevertheless he was ready for a fight regardless of the 
odds. Fortunately for him, as it proved, when he at- 
tempted to draw his pistols one of the Indians struck 
him a violent blow on the head with a tomahawk, render- 
ing him so nearly insensible that they easily disarmed and 
bound him. All this time the Indians were howling their 
war cries and otherwise indicated their purpose of going 
on the warpath, so that Bill very naturally supposed he 
was to be one of their first victims. 

His captors led him for nearly two miles down a creek, 
where they reached another body of Indians apparently 
in council. Old Satanta, whom Bill knew by having seen 
once before, occupied the chief council seat, and be- 
fore this old veteran thief and murderer he was brought. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 301 

At this juncture a rnarvelously cunning expedient came to 
mind and was at once adopted by Bill. He knew that 
the Indians were nearly out of meat and were expecting a 
large herd of cattle which had already been promised 
them by Gen. Hazen. In reply, therefore, to the first in- 
quiries of Satanta, Bill, speaking in a very bold and osten- 
tatious manner, said : 

' ' I have been after a big heap lot ' who-haws ' for your 
people. Why have your young warriors acted toward me 
like a pack of hungry coyotes ?' ' 

This announcement caused the old rogue to change his 
facial expression from a demure, murderous look to a 
broad, happy grin ; and after questioning the cunning 
scout until he had elicited more specious prevarications 
than can be heard in a Turkish court, Satanta tried to 
outlie Bill by declaring that his young men had meant no 
harm by their acts, intending only to have some sport by 
testing his bravery. He now asked Bill to drive the cat- 
tle down to the opposite side of the creek where they 
could herd and graze them, proffering an Indian escort if 
he desired. 

Bill promptly told him that he needed no escort but 
would drive the cattle to the spot indicated, as that was 
in pursuance of instructions from Gen. Hazen. 

His mule having been returned to him Bill mounted 
and rode toward the creek, reflecting on the excellent suc-^ 
cess of his expedient and the probability of being fol- 
lowed. The creek was quite broad but easily forded, so 
that it was no barrier to pursuit if the Indians should 
suspect the falsity of his representations. Upon reach- 
ing the opposite bank he was therefore very much 
alarmed at seeing a dozen of the Indians riding toward 
him as if to determine the accuracy of his statements. 
It chanced that the land on that side of the creek which 



302 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

he had now gained was considerably depressed, so that af- 
ter passing over the bank he was hidden from view until 
the Indians gained the apex. This advantage he used so 
well, by putting the mule at his highest rate of speed, 
that when the suspicious Indians gained the bank's sum- 
mit he was fully one mile in advance and riding furiously 
toward Ft. Larned. 

Upon seeing the fleeing scout there were no further 
grounds for suspecting his motives, so the Indians, who 
were mounted on excellent ponies, dashed after him as 
though they were impelled by a promised reward of all 
the whisky and bacon in the Big Father's commissary for 
his scalp. 

Bill was trying to save his hair and the Indians were 
equally anxious to secure it, so that the ride prompted by 
these diametrically opposed motives was as furious as 
Tarn O'Shanter's. 

After running over about three miles of ground Bill 
turned his head only to be horrified with the sight of his 
pursuers gaining rapidly on him. He now sank the 
spurs a little deeper into his mule, let out another inch 
of the reins and succeeded in increasing the speed of his 
animal, which appeared to be sailing under a second 
wind. 

It was thus the chase continued to Ash Grove, four 

miles from Ft. Larned, at which point Bill was less than 

half a mile ahead of the Indians, who were trying to make 

line shots with him and his mule as the target. Reach- 
es 

ing Pawnee Fork he dashed into that stream and as he 
gained the opposite shore and was rounding a thick clump 
of trees he was rejoiced to meet Denver Jim, a promi- 
nent scout, in company with a private soldier, driving a 
wagon toward the post. 

A moment spent in explanation determined the three 




AMBUSHING THE INOIANS 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 305 

men upon an ambush. Accordingly, the wagon was 
hastily driven into the woods, and posting themselves at 
an advantageous point they awaited the appearance of 
the red-skinned pursuers. "Look out!" said Bill, 
"here they come, right over my trail." True enough, 
the twelve painted warriors rode swiftly around the clump 
of brush, and the next instant there was a discharge of 
shots from the ambush which sent two Indians sprawling 
on the ground, where they kicked out their miserable 
existence. The others saw the danger of their position, 
and making a big circle, rode rapidly back toward their 
war party. 

When the three men reached Larned, Buffalo Bill and 
Denver Jim each displayed an Indian scalp as trophies of 
a successful ambush, and at the same time apprised Capt. 
Parker of the hostile character of Satanta and his tribe. 

On the following day about eight hundred warriors 
appeared before the fort and threatened to storm it, but 
being met with a determined front they circled around 
the post several times, keeping the soldiers inside until 
their village could move off. 

Considerable fear was entertained at the fort, owing 
to the great number of hostile Indians who practically 
invested it, and it was deemed by Capt. Parker as of the 
utmost importance to send dispatches to Gen. Sheridan, 
informing him of the situation. Fort Hays was sixty- 
five miles distant from Fort Larned, and as the country 
was fairly swarming with the worst kind of "bad'' 
Indians, Capt. Parker tried in vain to find some one who, 
would carry the dispatches, until the request was made 
of Buffalo BilL This expedition was not within Bill's 
line of duty, and presented dangers that would have 
caused the boldest man to hesitate ; but finding all the 
couriers absolutely refusing to perform the necessary 



306 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

service, he agreed to deliver the message, provided he 
could select the horse that he wanted to ride. Of course 
this requirement was readily assented to, and at ten 
o'clock at night, during a terrible storm, the brave scout 
set out, knowing that he had to run a very gauntlet of 
hostiles, who would make many sacrifices if by so doing 
they could lift his coveted scalp. 

The profound darkness of the night afforded him some 
security from surprise, but his fears of riding into an In- 
dian camp were realized when he reached Walnut Creek. 
A barking dog was the first intimation of his position, 
but this was speedily followed by several Indians pursu- 
ing him, being directed by the sounds of his horse's feet. 
By hard riding and good dodging, however, he eluded 
these, and meeting with no further mishap than being 
thrown over his horse's head by reason of the animal 
suddenly stepping into a gopher hole, he reached Fort 
Hays shortly after daylight and delivered the dispatches 
he carried before Gen. Sheridan had arisen from bed. 

After delivering the message Bill went over to Hays 
City, where he was well acquainted, and after taking some 
refreshments, lay down and slept for two hours. Think- 
ing then that Gen. Sheridan might want to ask him some 
questions regarding the condition of affairs at Larned, he 
returned to the fort and reported to him. He was some- 
what astonished to find that Gen. Sheridan was as anx- 
ious to send a dispatch to Ft. Dodge, ninety-five miles dis- 
tant, asCapt. Parker had been to communicate with his su- 
perior at Ft. Hays, and more surprised was he to find that 
of the numerous couriers and scouts at the fort not one 
could be induced to carry the General's dispatch, though 
the sum of five hundred dollars was offered for the ser- 
vice. 

Seeing the quandary in which Gen. Sheridan was placed, 
Bill addressed that official and said : 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 307 

"Well, General, I'll go over to the hotel and take a 
little more rest, and if by four o'clock you have not secured 
some one to carry your dispatches I will undertake to doit." 

The General replied : "I don't like to ask so much of 
you, for I know you are tired, but the matter is of great 
importance and some one must perform the trip. I'll 
give you a fresh horse and the best at the Fort if you'll 
undertake it." 

"All right, General, I'll be ready at four o'clock," re- 
sponded Bill, and he then went over to the hotel, but 
meeting with many friends and the ' ' irrigating ' ' being 
good, he obtained only the rest that gay compan- 
ionship affords. 

At the appointed time Bill was ready, and receiving the 
dispatches at the hands of Gen . Sheridan he mounted his 
horse and rode away for Ft. Dodge. 

After his departure there was much debate among the 
scouts who bade him good bye respecting the probability 
of his getting through, for the Indians were thick along 
the whole route, and only a few days before had killed 
three couriers and several settlers. 

Bill continued his ride all night, meeting with no inter- 
ruption, and by daylight the next morning he had reached 
Saw-Log Crossing, on Pawnee Fork, which was seventy- 
five miles from Ft. Hays. A company of colored caval- 
ry under Major Cox was stationed here, and it being on 
the direct route to Ft. Dodge, Bill carried a letter with 
him from Gen. Sheridan requesting Major Cox to furnish 
him with a fresh horse upon his arrival there. This the 
Major did, so after partaking of a good breakfast, Bill 
took his remount and continued onto Dodge, which point 
he gained at ten o'clock in the morning, making the 
ninety-five miles in just eighteen hours from the time of 
startinsr. 



308 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

The commanding officer at Ft. Dodge, after receiving 
the dispatches, remarked : 

"lam very glad to see you, Cody, and I'll tell you 
that the trip just made is one of the most fortunate I 
know of. It is almost a miracle how you got through 
without having your body filled as full of holes as a pep- 
per box. The Indians are swarming all around within 
fifty miles of here, and to leave camp voluntarily is al- 
most equal to committing suicide. I have been wanting 
to send a message to Ft. Larned for several days, but the 
trip is so dangerous that I can't find any one who will 
risk it, and I wouldn't blame the bravest man for re- 
fusing." 

"Weil, Major, as I didn't find any Indians between 
here and Hays, I think I might get through to Larned ; 
in fact, I want to go back there and if you will furnish 
me with a good horse I'll try to carry your message." 

" I don't think it would be policy for you to make the 
trip now, especially since you have done so much hard 
riding already. Besides, the best mount I could give you 
would be a government mule." 

" All right, Major, I don't want the best, second best 
is good enough for me, so trot out your mule. I'll take 
a little nap and in the meantime have your hostler slick 
up the mule so he can slide through with me like a 
greased thunderbolt should the reds jump us." 

Bill then went off, and after "liquidating" in true 
Western style, lay down in the Major's quarters where 
he slept soundly until nearly five o'clock in the evening, 
when, having replenished his canteen, he mounted the pa- 
tient mule and set out for Ft. Larned, which was sixty- 
five miles east of Ft. Dodge. 

After proceeding as far as Coon Creek, which was 
nearly half way, Bill dismounted for the purpose of get- 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 309 

ting a drink of water. While stooping down the mule 
got frightened at something and jerked loose, nor did the 
stupid animal stop to consider how essential his service 
was to his rider, for he at once set off in a trot down the 
creek. In vain did Bill coax the mule with promises of 
oats and green pastures ; the stupid descendant of Ba- 
laam's admonisher could not be fooled with that sort of 
flattery, and the chagrined and weary scout had to follow 
in the rear, hoping that the animal would step on the 
loosened reins and thus check himself. But mile after 
mile did the dismounted and now infuriated scout follow 
that irritating mule. Time and again did he decide to 
shoot the tantalizing animal, but the decision did not pre- 
vail against his better reason ; for though useless as a 
conveyance the mule still carried the saddle and bridle 
and it were better to make him bear the burden of these 
to Ft. Lamed than attempt to carry them himself. 

Thus the two traveled in the direction of Ft. Larned 
all night, both keeping in the main road despite the dan- 
ger which it threatened . In the morning just as the sun 
was peeping over the hazy hilltops Bill and the mule 
reached a high knoll at the bottom of which lay the fort. 
" Now," said the scout to himself, " I'm going to manage 
the rest of this journey, in as much as it is less than half 
a mile long," and with this he raised his gun with venge- 
f ul deliberation and fired a slug into the rear abutments 
of that incomparably malicious mule. One shot did not 
afford the complete satisfaction he desired, and it was 
really grateful to him to see the animal die so slowly. So 
much sin required a dreadful amount of atonement, and 
while the mule was in the atoning business it was expedi- 
ent that he should do as much of it as possible. So died 
the ass that looked back with scorn, and no man knoweth 



310 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

how much evil perished with him ; yea, even unto this day 
knoweth no man. 

After reaching Larned — carrying the bridle and saddle 
himself — Buffalo Bill spent several hours in refreshing 
sleep, and when he awakened he found Gen. Hazen try- 
ing to induce some of the couriers to take his dispatches 
to Gen. Sheridan, at Ft. Hays. Having been warmly 
and very justly praised for the long and perilous rides he 
had just completed, Bill again proffered his services to 
perform the trip. At first Gen. Hazen refused to despatch 
him on the mission, saying, "This is like riding a free 
horse to death ; you have already ridden enough to kill 
any ordinary man, and I don't think it would be treating 
you properly to permit you to make this additional jour- 
ney." 

But when evening came and no other volunteer could 
be engaged, as a matter of last resort Bill was given a 
good horse, and the dispatches entrusted to him for trans- 
mission. It was after nightfall when he started on this 
last trip and by daylight the next morning he was in Ft. 
Hays, where he delivered the dispatches. Gen. Sheridan 
was profoundly astonished to see Bill before him again in 
so short a time, and after being informed of his wonderful 
riding during the three days, the General pronounced it a 
feat that was never equaled, and even now Gen. Sheridan 
maintains that no other man could accomplish the same 
distance under similar circumstances. To this day the 
rides here described stand on record as the most remark- 
able ever made. They aggregated three hundred and 
fifty-five miles in fifty-eight riding hours, or an average of 
more than six miles an hour including an enforced walk of 
thirty-five miles. When it is considered that all this dis- 
tance was made during the night time and through a coun- 
try full of hostile Indians, without a road to follow or a 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 311 

bridge to cross the streams, the feat appears too incredu- 
lous for belief were it not for the most indisputable evi- 
dence, easily attainable, which makes disbelief impos- 
sible. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Gen. Sheridan was so favorably impressed by the 
self-sacrificing spirit and marvelous endurance of Buffalo 
Bill, and being already acquainted with his reputation as 
a brave man and superior fighter, that he called the 
noted scout to his headquarters directly after receiving 
Major Hazen's dispatches, and said : 

" Cody, I have ordered the Fifth Cavalry to proceed 
against the Dog Soldier Indians who are now terrorizing 
the Republican River district, and as the campaign will 
be a very important one I want a first-class man to guide 
the expedition. From my brief acquaintance with you I 
am convinced that you are the person best suited for this 
service. I have therefore decided to appoint you guide 
and also chief of scouts of the command. I hope the 
place will be acceptable to you, for it is particularly de- 
sirable that the very best guide and scout should fill this 
position, and I am frank to say I have thorough confi- 
dence in your abilities." 

Giving his big sombrero a careless whirl on his left 
hand, Bill answered in his usual indifferent manner : 

" I thank you, General, for this compliment ; I am al- 
ways ready to execute your orders, and if you consider 
me the best man for the place, why, then, I'm off without 
ceremony " 



312 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Only two days before this occurrence a body of twenty 
scouts, under Gen. Forsythe, had returned from the Re- 
publican river, where they had been engaged in one of 
the most desperate battles ever fought with the Indians. 
The original force of the scouts was fifty men, but being 
corraled by five hundred Indians on the Arickaree they 
had to fight this overpowering number from breastworks 
made of their dead mules for a period of six days. In 
order to sustain life they fed on the bodies of their dead 
animals, and when at last relieved by a detachment of 
cavalry under Col. Carpenter, there were only twenty of 
the original number left, the others having been killed 
outright or died from neglected wounds. 

On the third of October, nearly a week after Buffalo 
Bill's appointment, the Fifth Cavalry arrived at Ft. 
Hays, where he was directly introduced to the officers and 
it was but a short time before he had won the friendship 
and admiration of them all. 

In two days after their arriva. the regiment was put 
upon the inarch, going by the most direct route toward 
the infested country. The transportation facilities com- 
prised seventy-five six mule wagons, with a full comple- 
ment of ambulances, the whole outfit when stretched out 
on the prairie making a caravan most imposing in ap- 
pearance. 

During the first four days of marching no Indians 
were soon and nothing occurred beyond the usual inci- 
dents of camp life ; but on the evening of October 10th, 
as the command was preparing to go into camp on the 
Saline river, when all the horses were unsaddled and the 
wagons corraled, the regiment was surprised by several 
hundred Indians who rushed down from neighboring hill 
upod the unprepared expedition and created great excite- 
ment. A cordon of men was quietly thrown around thes 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 



313 



wagons to protect the camp and afford time for the troops 
to get their horses readv and mount. The Indians cir- 



i 

-5. 

•5' 




cled around the bustling command, assuming various atti- 
tudes on their ponies and shooting at the same time, but 



314 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

they were met with such an effective fire from the cordon 
that they retreated, leaving several dead bodies on the 
field. Buffalo Bill was the first man to get his horse in 
readiness, and mounting in advance of all the rest, led the 
van several hundred yards in pursuing the Indians, two 
of whom he killed and wounded the horse of another. 
Feeling safe from attack now, the regiment returned to 
camp, intending to follow the trail made by the attacking 
party early the next morning. 

It was scarcely daylight when the command was put 
in motion, following the trail sharply, which led to the 
South Fork of Solomon river, where it scattered. Here 
the expedition went into camp again, and as it was 
scarcely yet three o'clock, p. m., Col. Royal requested 
Bill to take a short circuit over the prairie and try to kill 
a few buffaloes, as their fresh meat supply was almost 
exhausted. 

"All right," responded Bill, "send a wagon along 
with me to haul in the carcasses." 

"It is not a custom of mine to count profits before 
beginning business. Kill your game first, and then I'll 
send out the wagons," the Colonel replied. 

Without saying anything more, Bill mounted his horse 
and rode away toward the north, unaccompanied. After 
an absence of nearly two hours, some of the soldiers 
discerned a number of moving things, evidently advanc- 
ing toward them. Closer and closer came the singular 
objects, until at last there was discovered a horseman, 
riding in the rear of six large terror-stricken buffaloes. 
In another moment the animals had charged directly into 
camp, where they were shot down b}' Bill. 

Col. Royal, hearing the agitation outside his tent, 
rushed up to Bill, who he discovered was the cause of 
the excitement, and vigorously embellishing his language, 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 315 

inquired by what authority he had aroused so much con- 
fusion in the camp. 

In a most lugubriously penitential way Bill replied : 

"I didn't mean any harm, Colonel; but as you 
wouldn't send out a wagon to haul in my game, I thought 
it would be an accommodation to you if I made the buf- 
faloes furnish their own conveyance. Allow me to pre- 
sent you with some choice tongues." 

The Colonel could not face this ingenious reply, and his 
anger was at once succeeded by a hearty laugh ; nor did 
he refuse the buffalo tongues proffered him by the seem- 
ingly reckless hunter. 

The expedition resumed its inarch on the following 
day, but reached Buffalo Tank on Saline river without 
meeting any more Indians. Here the command was 
turned over to Gen. E. A. Can* who had been sent out 
from Ft. Hays with the Forsythe scouts. Upon pro- 
ceeding to Beaver Creek a large, fresh Indian trail was 
discovered, which being followed for a distance of eight 
miles brought about two hundred Indians in view, who 
occupied a position on the bluffs. Company M was or- 
dered forward, which being commanded by an impetuous 
and daring French Lieutenant named Schinosky, the In- 
dians were driven over the bluffs for more than a mile. 
Suddenly they were reinforced and company M. found 
itself fighting over four hundred red-skins without the 
least protection. It looked for a short while as if there 
were no escape from the murderous fire poured upon 
them by the Indians. Buffalo Bill hearing the rapid fir- 
ing over the bluffs, knew there was desperate work be- 
ing done, and he sped away in advance of the main com- 
mand which was hurrying up to Schinosky' s assistance. 
Gaining the environment, he shot two Indians and then 
wheeling back he returned to headquarters and so accu- 

19 



316 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

rately described the position of the savages that Gen. 
Carr moved two companies so as to surround the enemy, 
when a combined attack was made with such fury that 
the battle was soon ended. 

The Indians being repulsed fell back with the soldiers 
pursuing until a second force of about six hundred war- 
riors came into view, who had been in reserve to protect 
their village, while the others deployed to bring the sol- 
diers into an ambush. But the cavalry force was much 
greater than the Indians had anticipated, and after mak- 
ing two insignificant charges they precipitately retreated. 
Night was now rapidly approaching and Gen. Carr or- 
dered the tired soldiers into camp, where a good rest was 
necessary for the movements of the morrow. 

On the following day the expedition raised camp at an 
early hour and taking up the trail where they left it at 
the village, pushed forward so rapidly that about three 
oVock they sighted a large force of Indians who turned 
back the moment they were discovered and gave battle. 
But they fought very shy, their purpose being to check 
the cavalry advance so as to permit their village to es- 
cape. Finding that a battle front would not serve their 
purpose, they set the dry prairie grass on fire, but it was 
too short to burn rapidly. A running fight continued 
until the occupants of the village had abandoned all their 
more cumbersome materials, such as lodge-poles, kettles, 
robes, bedding, etc. They now traveled much moro 
rapidly, so that the troops rarely came within gun-shot 
distance. 

The pursuit continued for three days until the Indians 
had scattered so badly that it was impossible for an army 
to follow them any longer. 

Having abandoned pursuit of the Dog Soldier Indians 
the expedition set out for the headwaters of Beaver Creek. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 



317 



After traveling about thirty-five miles Gen. Carr rode for- 
ward until he overtook Buffalo Bill, who as guide and 
chief of scouts, was riding considerably in advance of the 
command, and addressing hi in said : 

" Cody, all the Forsyth scouts declare you are going in 
the wrong direction, and also that we are not likely to 
strike any water to-day by proceeding on thi& route ; that 
if you should strike any of the branches of the Beaver 
you would certainly find them dry at this season." 




Beaver Creek — the Trapper's Elysian. 

Bill answered : "I've been over this country several 
times, General, and notwithstanding what the other scouts 
say, I think we will find plenty of good water within eight 
miles of here, and that we are making directly for the 
point you wish to reach." 

"All right ; but remember that the matter is too serious 
to admit of mistakes ; the responsibility is now all your 
own," and so saying General Carr rode back to the com- 
mand. 



318 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

After marching seven miles further the Forsyth scouts 
again declared that they were wandering in the wrong di- 
rection, but notwithstanding their forebodings, within the 
distance asserted by Bill a beautiful stream of water was 
discovered purling along the ravines, almost hidden by the 
trees which lined its banks. A level, grassy spot having 
been selected, about four o'clock in the evening everything 
was put in preparation for camping in an enemy's coun- 
try. This stream, which was a branch of Beaver river, 
having no location on the then existing maps, was named 
by Gen. Carr Cody's Creek in honor of his distinguished 
guide, a name by which it is now known on all the topo- 
graphical maps of Kansas. 

On the following morning camp was broken early and 
the march toward Beaver Creek resumed. Buffalo Bill 3 
as was his custom, had ridden nearly a quarter of a mile 
ahead of the command, and first striking the Beaver at a 
wide point was riding along the bank seeking a safe cross- 
ing. As he emerged from a thick covert in a bend of the 
creek he suddenly confronted a party of Indians who fired 
on him, shooting his horse dead. Bill was taken by such 
complete surprise that as his horse fell he went tumbling 
headlong into a thicket, from which it took some moments 
to extricate himself. As he arose another volley of bul- 
lets came zipping into his retreat, but bringing his faith- 
ful rifle into position he shot one of the Indian's 
ponies and held the whole party at bay until the command 
reached him. Company I, under Lieutenant Brady, was 
sent in pursuit of the Indians, and being accompanied by 
Bill, who had been furnished with another horse, a lively 
battle was soon precipitated. But the Indians beat a 
retreat, followed by the soldiers, who succeded in killing 
several and capturing a large quantity of Indian equip- 
age. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 319 

The expedition continued beating the skirts of Beaver 
Creek for some days, but finding no more Indians, and 
supplies running short, Gen. Can* ordered the command 
to Fort Wallace, where it remained for several days. 

During this period of quiet, Bill amused himself by 
pursuing his favorite sport, buffalo and antelope shooting. 
Having met with uniform success on these hunts, three 
of the other scouts concluded to accompany him, and the 
party, all being excellent marksmen, a wagon was given 
them to haul in their game. The quartette of hunters 
had proceeded seven or eight miles from the fort, when 
they discovered a large herd of buffaloes, running rapidly 
toward Beaver Creek. Pursuit was, of course, given, 
and the sport became so exciting that the hunters took no 
concern or thought of danger until they discovered about 
fifty Indians bearing down on them, shutting off a retreat 
toward Wallace. 

The boys saw they were in for a hard fight, and Bill, 
being recognized as a boss fighter and stayer, was looked 
to for advice. 

' ' Make for that ravine ; if we reach that in time we 
■ean stand them off for a while anyhow." 

This was his first order, and it was obeyed with such 
alacrity that the party not only reached the ravine, but 
had also dismounted in time to send such a destructive 
volley into the charging Indians that four were unseated. 
This checked the advance, but only for a moment,- when 
they again came pouring down upon the hunters, yelling 
like the materialized spirits of hades. But again the 
repeating guns of the four brave hunters played upon 
them so disastrously that the Indians fell back. Rally- 
ing, however, after a council of several minutes, they 
made another charge, coming so cIosq this time that one 
of the hunters was wounded and three of their horse* 



320 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

were killed . But the attack was again successfully re- 
pulsed, with such loss to the Indians that they retreated, 
and riding rapidly due north were seen no more. 

The four hunters had reason to rejoice at the victory 
they had won, but though they had only three sound 
horses and a wounded companion, the hunt was not yet 
abandoned. Another herd of buffaloes being found, the 
wounded man remained in the wagon, while the others 
set off after the game, and killed as many as their means 
of transportation justified. Having now succeeded as 
both fighters and hunters, the party returned to the fort 
with trophies of their adventures and received well 
deserved compliments from Gen. Carr for their deeds. 



CHAPTEK XIV. 

After leaving Fort Wallace, Gen. Carr's forces were 
ordered to winter along the Canadian river, in which 
portion of the country Indians were occasionally com- 
mitting depredations. Proceeding, therefore, to Fort 
Lyon, the command was duly equipped for the approach- 
ing season, and then set out, intending to overtake and 
consolidate with Gen. Penrose, who had departed toward 
Camp Supply three weeks previously. Buffalo Bill was 
especially anxious for the consolidation, because Wild 
Bill, his old friend, was Gen. Penrose's chief of scouts. 

Winter wa.s now near at hand, and reaching Freeze Out 
Canon, they found the snow so deep that it was almost 
impossible to march through it. To overcome this obsta- 
cle the command, as far as practicable, was put to work 
shoveling and beating a roadway for the teams, which 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 321 

were brought through only with the greatest difficulty. 

After a very long march, full of hardships and suffer- 
ings, Gen. Penrose's camp was found on the Palodora 
in a most distracted condition. Their provisions had 
long been exhausted and life had been sustained by eat- 
ing the carcasses of their draught animals. After a lib- 
eral distribution of rations among the famishing men, 
Wild Bill and Buffalo Bill covenanted together for a good 
time of their own, to accomplish which they tapped a 
beer train which was being driven through by a party of 
Mexicans to Camp Evans to trade to the soldiers at that 
point, which was only twelve miles from the Palodora 
station. 

Indulging to their full capacity, the soldiers were not 
forgotten, and there was hilarity in camp of the most in- 
spiriting character, changing all factious grumbling into 
a hearty good time, in this sense proving a positive ben- 
efit to the two suffering commands. Arriving at Camp 
Evans, Wild Bill was despatched to Camp Supply, two 
hundred miles distant, and the armies settled in tempo- 
rary quarters to await his return. The trip was made in 
an almost incredibly short time, his celerity being due to 
orders from Supply informing Gens. Penrose and Carr 
of Black Kettle's depredations on the Wachita, and order- 
ing them to pursue him. Following out these instructions 
the consolidated commands moved rapidly along the 
Cimarron until they discovered the Indians, when a ter- 
rific battle immediately ensued. In this fight Buffalo Bill 
and Wild Bill did almost the work of a regiment ; braver 
men never went into an action, both fighting as though 
they were invulnerable. 

In the fury and rout which followed the first charge 
Wild Bill gave chase to Black Kettle, head chief of the 
Cheyennes engaged, and overtaking the fleeing red war- 



322 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

rior, stabbed him to death. But the accomplishment of 
this heroic action would have cost him his own life had 
not Buffalo Bill ridden with impetuous daring into the 
very midst of fully fifty Indians who had surrounded 
Wild Bill intent on either his capture or death. These 
two daring and intrepid scouts plunged furiously into the 
midst of the Indians, each with a revolver in either hand, 
and literally carved their way through the surging mass 
of red skins, leaving a furrow of dead Indians in their 
wake. Such fighting, such riding, and such marvelous 
intrepidity combined, were doubtless never equaled, and 
if but this act alone could be credited to the valor of Wild 
Bill and Buffalo Bill their names would deserve inscription 
on Fame's enduring monument. 

Having broken the strength of the Cheyennes, killed 
their famous chief and captured so many of their best 
warriors, Gen. Carr, who was chief in command of the 
consolidated forces, returned toward Camp Supply, but 
owing to heavy snows it was considered more advisable 
to pitch their tents on the Canadian river, especially as 
the country abounded with game. 

During this latter encampment a serious feud was cre- 
ated between fifteen Mexican scouts with Gen. Penrose's 
command and an equal number of American scouts en- 
gaged with Gen. Carr. What provoked this nationalized 
quarrel was Buffalo Bill's appointment as chief of the 
combined force of scouts, with Wild Bill as assistant. 
The quarrel increased in bitterness from hour to hour 
until at length one day, while the opposing forces were 
congregated before the sutler's store, the long anticipated 
fight was precipitated by Buffalo Bill knocking one of 
the insulting Mexicans an honest furlong. A moment 
after he was attacked by the entire force of Mexican 
scouts, whom he fought with great success, but was not 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 323 

alone, for Wild Bill soon put in his oar, followed by the 
other American scouts, and for nearly half an hour there 
was the best imitation of the row at Tim Finnigan's 
wake ever attempted on American soil. Every man did 
his level best and the circus was consequently a big suc- 
cess — for the American scouts. 

The command remained in camp along the Canadian 
until March had approached, when seeing there were no 
prospects of finding any more turbulent Indians, Gen. 
Carr moved up to Ft. Lyon. Reaching this post, Buf- 
falo Bill obtained a thirty days' leave of absence to visit 
St. Louis where his family was then temporarily living. 
He rode to Sheridan, distant one hundred and forty miles, 
on a government mule, and taking the train there reached 
St. Louis in due time, where his reception was very 
cordial. 

Upon his return to Ft. Lyon, Gen. Carr immediately 
accosted him as follows : 

" Cody, you have returned at a most opportune time, 
for your services are just now badly needed. During 
our stay here several of our best horses have been stolen, 
and though I have sent out several parties, hoping to 
capture the thieves or recover some of our stock, not one 
of them has met with the least success. Now I want you 
to make an effort." 

"All right, General, I'll try." 

This was the only reply returned by Bill, but he at 
once sought those who had been after the thieves, in or- 
der to question them regarding the trails, if any had been 
found. Bill Green, an old scout who had accompanied 
parties sent out by Gen. Carr, informed him that he had 
discovered a trail leading by Old Fort Lyon, but could 
not follow it on account of the high grass it led through. 

On the following morning Bill started after the thieves, 



324 HEROES OF THE TLAINS. 

accompanied by Green, Jack Farley and another scout 
whose name cannot be recalled. The party was led by 
Green to the spot where high grass had prevented him 
from following it further, and then Bill began a search- 
ing investigation for hoof prints. These he found, 
and taking up the trail where Green had lost it, followed 
on for several miles until he reached a thick clump of 
timber, where he found numerous evidences of a recent 
corral of horses. But singularly enough, not a single 
hoof print could be discovered leading in any direction 
from the corral. 

""Well, boys," said Bill, "we are after experienced 
horse thieves ; that I know, because of the perfect man- 
ner in which their trail is covered. We've got to divide 
up here and each man make a five-mile circuit, coming 
together again at this place to report." 

The men immediately diverged in search of the hidden 
trail, which Bill found in the sand hills, and discovered 
that the thieves were moving with eight horses and four 
mules. The party having met again as agreed, they 
started out on the rediscovered trail and followed it with- 
out difficulty to Denver, reaching a point four miles from 
that town on Thursday. 

"We have got to stop here," remarked Bill, "because 
I know that the thieves arc in Denver, and as Saturday 
is the great horse sales day in that place, we will wait 
here until Friday night so as to avert suspicion, and catch 
them when the horses are put up for sale." 

Early on Saturday morning Bill rode into Denver with 
his three assistants and put up at the Elephant Corral, 
overlooking the yard where all the auction horse sales 
were made. After taking a survey of his position he 
walked out into the yard, where he soon had the pleasure 
of seeing one of the old packers in Gen. Carr's command 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 325 

ride into the corral on a racing mule, belonging to Lieut. 
Forbush, and leading another. Bill waited for several 
minutes, expecting to see the thief's confederate put in 
an appearance, but as the mule was being bid on action 
could no longer be deferred. 

Pushing through the crowd, Bill approached the thief, 
who, recognizing him, attempted to escape, but the keen- 
.syed scout divined his intention, and seizing him, cried : 

" Stop, or I'll have to kill you here ; come along with 
/ne." 

This action was a surprise to those attending the auc- 
tion, and they demanded an explanation, which being 
given, the thief, whose name was Williams, was taken 
off three miles down the Platte river. Here, having 
found a dense thicket suited for their purposes, Bill pre- 
pared a noose with which he intended to hang Williams 
if he refused to reveal . the whereabouts of his confed- 
erates. 

Seeing that his captors were in earnest, Williams made 
a complete disclosure of his operations, telling the party 
that he had but one partner in the horse-stealing enter- 
prise, and that he might be found at a deserted cabin 
about four miles further down the river. The rope was 
now taken down from the limb which suspended it, and 
taking Williams along with them, the party proceeded 
on down the river until the place they had been directed 
to was reached. At the moment Green discovered the 
old cabin, Bill's alert eyes fell on ten head of the stolen 
horses, all tethered and grazing close about the house. 
A.s the party rode up, the occupant, hearing unusual 
aoises, came to the door with pistol in hand. But Bill's 
rifle instantly covered him and the command, " Throw 
up your hands, Bevins, or I'll kill you," made the thief 
yield at once. 



32() HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

This confederate of Williams', whose name was Bev- 
ins, had also been a packer in Gen. Carr's expedition 
and was well-known to Buffalo Bill, and, it may be 
added, he also knew Bill, and it was this mutual recog- 
nition which convinced the thief how useless it would be 
to make any show of resistance. 

A search of the old cabin resulted in the recovery of 
several saddles, lariets, blankets, and two Henry rifles. 
All the recovered horses and mules were then tied to- 
gether, and with AVilliams and Bevins well secured, the 
party returned to Denver. Passing one night in that 
place they started out for Ft. Lyon, making seventeen 
miles the first day and camping at Cherry Creek. 

Notwithstanding it was late in April the weather was 
very cold, and a big fire was made up before which all 
but a single guard lay down to sleep. 

At one o'clock in the morning it began to snow quite 
hard and an increase of covering was necessary. The 
prisoners were apparently sound asleep, and there being 
a constant guard it was not deemed necessary to tie 
them. At three o'clock, while Farley was on watch, 
Bevins, seizing upon the opportunity^, struck the guard a 
violent blow and leaping over the fire sped swiftly away. 
The noise awakened Cody just as Williams started to 
join his companion, but Bill knocked him down and then 
sent an ineffectual shot after the escaping thief. In the 
flight Bevins accidently dropped one of his shoes and was 
therefore barefooted, a condition which put him at great 
disadvantage in the pursuit which followed. 

Leaving Williams in charge of Farley and the other 
scout, Bill and Green quickly saddled their horses and 
set out after Bevins. They found his trail hard to fol- 
low in the darkness, but had no difficulty after daylight, 
owing to the imprints in the snow. After going several 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 327 

miles the blood stains clearly showed that the fugitive's 
unprotected foot was being lacerated by the sharp stones 
and prickly-pears, but notwithstanding this he was mak- 
ing fast time. 

The pursuers had traveled rapidly for more than twelve 
miles before they came in sight of the fleeing thief, on a 
ridge, near the Platte river. Bill commanded him to halt, 
under pain of being shot, and knowin g who was handling 
the rifle drawn on him, Bevins at once sat down and be- 
gan pulling the sharp needles from his terribly lacerated 
feet. Taking their recaptured prisoner back to the Cher- 
ry Creek branch (Bill allowing Bevins to ride his own 
horse out of compassion for the painful condition of his 
feet), the party took up their march again toward Ft. 
Lyon. 

On the following night Williams made his escape while 
the scout whose name is not remembered was on duty, 
and though earnest pursuit was given he was not recap- 
tured. 

With the remaining prisoner the party reached Ft. 
Lyon, and after turning over the recovered stock to Gen. 
Carr, Bevins was placed in charge of the civil authorities. 
He was confined in a log jail at Boggs' ranch, from which 
he escaped in a few days, just as Bill had predicted. In 
1872, however, Bevins was captured again, together with 
several other notorious outlaws of his gang who had been 
robbing stage coaches in the country north of the Union 
Pacific railroad, and he is now serving a life sentence in 
the Nebraska penitentiary. 



328 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



CHAPTER XV. 

It was only a few days after Buffalo Bill's arrival at 
Ft. Lyon with the stolen horses and his prisoner, that the 
Fifth cavalry was ordered to proceed to Ft. McPherson, 
in Nebraska, for operations in the department of the 
Platte. The command prepared for the march at once, 
Bill taking the advance and maintaining it throughout the 
entire journey. After marching several days the regi- 
ment approached the valley drained by the north fork of 
Beaver creek where Cody discovered fresh and numerous 
Indian signs from which he estimated there were not less 
than four hundred lodges, or three thousand Indians, in 
the immediate vicinity. Riding back to Gen. Carr he 
requested him to halt in the valley and wait until he could 
reconnoitre and locate the savages. Accordingly Lieut. 
Ward, with twelve men, was sent out on the trail with 
Bill and followed it along the creek bank for a distance 
of twelve miles. Then leaving their horses, Bill and the 
Lieutenant crawled carefully to the apex of a high knoll, 
from which point of observation they discovered a very 
large Indian village not more than three miles distant, 
while to the left less than half a mile was an Indian hunt- 
ing party riding ponies heavily laden with buffalo meat. 

Examination convinced the two white men that their 
position was not particularly safe, as the Indians seemed 
to be running in every direction. Bill hastily wrote a 
dispatch which he gave to Lieutenant Ward, asking its 
immediate transmission to Gen. Carr. One of the sol- 
diers was detailed for the purpose, but he had ridden 
back less than a mile when several shots were heard and ' 
soon the dispatch courier was seen riding for life around 
the bend of the creek, closely pursued by five Indians. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 329 

Bill and the Lieutenant, followed by the soldiers, dashed 
out after the red-skins and giving a well-directed volley, 
killed one of them and drove the others across the 
creek. 

As the badly scared messenger came up to the party, 
Bill said sharply : 




Buffalo Bill tries a Shot at Long Range. 

" Lieutenant, give me that dispatch, I'll carry it 
through," and taking the message, he rode rapidly to- 
ward the regiment, but had proceeded only a short dis- 
tance when he discovered a dozen Indians carrying buf- 
falo meat on their ponies. In order to make them be- 



330 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

lieve he was accompanied by a large force, Bill acted on 
the aggressive and delivered a shot at long range. The 
Indians at first showed no inclination to fight, but seeinsf 
only one man they cut loose their burdens and dashed 
after the bold scout. But pursuit on already jaded po- 
nies was useless, and Bill, after drawing them as far as pos- 
sible, dashed off, leaving the Indians far behind and get* 
ting safely into camp, delivered the message to Gen. 
Carr. 

Eight companies were instantly ordered to saddle up, 
the other two being left in charge of the train. They 
rode swiftly to the relief of Lieutenant Ward, but met 
him returning, within three miles of camp ; he reported 
an engagement with fifteen Indian hunters, one of whom 
he had killed, and wounded one pony. The companies 
kept straight on, however, and after going two miles 
further they met a force of one thousand Indians, pre- 
pared for battle, approaching up the creek. 

Gen. Carr ordered an immediate charge, accompany- 
ing the order with instructions to break through the line 
of Indians and charge on to the village without stopping. 
The French Lieutenant, Schinosky, unfortunately, failed 
to comprehend the order, and instead of charging 
through with the command, vigorously attacked the In- 
dians' left flank, where he was quickly surrounded by a 
large body of the enemy with every assurance of being 
annihilated. Gen. Carr discovered Schinosky' s danger 
barely in time to charge back to his rescue. But in this 
fiasco several soldiers and horses were killed and the In- 
dian village given time to get so far away that further 
pursuit was impracticable that day, which was already 
nearly spent. 

Couriers had been sent back, ordering the detail of two 
companies to follow up with the supply train, but as they 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 331 

Aa ->.xv ap^)oar it was gravely feared that they had been 
surrounded by Indians and were either besieged or had 
fallen victims to a terrible fate. It became necessary 
therefore to rev\jrn to the camp. Singularly enough, this 
order had been also misunderstood, and the night was 
spent in Beaver Valley. 

On the following Oay pursuit was renewed and kept up 
for two days, when a vFar party was again discovered by 
an advance company, ^:id some lively fighting ensued. 
The Indians were now pressed so hard that they threw 
away all their camp utensils ond equipage and left behind 
them several head of exhausted ponies. As a last resort, 
the village separated, taking so jiany different trails that 
pursuit was given over and the command went on to Fort 
McPherson, to prepare for another expedition along the 
Republican river. 

While encamped at McPherson th^ command was rein- 
forced by three hundred Pawnee scouts, under command 
of Major Frank J. North, one of the best executive 
officers, as well also as one of the bravest xnen that ever 
carved a route through the great West. In ^his connec- 
tion I cannot help indulging what I know wili be a par- 
donable degression, in order that some of the qualities of 
this brave officer may be at least alluded to. 

Major North, though born in New York, Marcn 10, 
1840, is nevertheless a thoroughly Western man in all 
his training. His father removed from New York to 
Nebraska, settling near Columbus, in the winter of 1856- 
57, and directly thereafter was frozen to death at Emi- 
grant Crossing, on Big Pappillion Creek, while trying to 
secure wood for his suffering family. 

Shortly after the death of his father young North 
joined a party of trappers, McMurray, Glass and Mes- 
senger, and began taking beaver and otter on the tribu- 

20 



332 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



taries of Platte river, but meeting with indifferent suc- 
cess, returned to Columbus and engaged in anything that 
promised remuneration, as the family was almost entirely 
dependent on him for support. 

In 1860, being now twenty years of age, Frank pro- 
cured employment with Agent DePuy, at the Pa-w nee- 
Indian Reservation. Here, while performing his other 
duties, he acquired such a thorough knowledge of the 




Maj. Frank J. North. 

Pawnee language that in the following year he was 
engaged aa interpreter by Mr. Rudy, son-in-law of the 
Indian Commissioner. 

At the breaking out of the Sioux war in 1864, Gen. 
Curtis, commanding the Sixteenth and Twelfth Kansas 
Cavalry, commissioned Mr. North to organize the Paw- 
nee scouts, who were not only friendly to the Govern- 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 333 

ment but inveterate foes of the Sioux. Under this au- 
thority he enlisted seventy-seven young warriors and 
organized a company of which he was made First 
Lieutenant. This was the first enlistment ever made of 
Indians for regular Government service, and while Lieut. 
North is entitled to this honor, it is with regret I have to 
add that he never received a cent for his services, neither 
did his Indian warriors receive any pay, though they 
were promised by Gen. Curtis, upon enlistment, that 
they should receive the same as cavalrymen. 

In the latter part of October following, acting under 
orders from Gen. Custer, Lieut. North enlisted one hun- 
dred more Pawnee warriors, who were then equipped 
like the regular cavalry, and North was commissioned 
Captain. 

On the thirteenth of January, 1865, the company was 
mustered into service, the delay being due to difficulties 
regarding their acceptance by the Government, but when 
regularly put on the muster rolls Capt. North began ac- 
tive operations. Learning of depredations being made 
by the Sioux in the neighborhood of Julesburg, he took 
forty of his Pawnees and proceeded directly to the scene 
of trouble. On the route to Julesburg he was horrified 
to find the bodies of no less than fourteen white persons, 
pilgrims on their way to Pike's Peak, mutilated beyond 
recognition ; their scalps torn off, tongues cut out, legs 
cut open and bodies full of arrows. Julesburg had also 
been attacked and the garrison was on the point of yield- 
ing when rescued. North now pushed after the Sioux 
with all possible speed, and meeting with twenty-eight of 
the incarnate devils, he fell upon them with such irresist- 
ible force that not a single Sioux in the party escaped 
his vengeance. 

These Indians whom North had thus annihilated were 



334 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

a jDredatory band from Red Cloud's forces, and had done 
an inestimable amount of damage through the section 
they had invaded. Only a few days previous to their 
disastrous meeting with Capt. North, this same party had 
suddenly attacked Lieutenant Collins, with fourteen 
men, and killed the entire party. 

Shortly after this successful sortie Captain North was 
ordered to pursue a body of twelve Cheyennes and pun- 
ish them for atrocities committed in the neighborhood of 
Ft. Sedgwick. Taking twenty of his Pawnees he got on 
the Cheyenne trail and after following it about thirty 
miles, came up with the enemy whom he found in line of 
battle. At the first volley, however, the Cheyennes 
fled, followed hard by Capt. North. In this pursuit the 
Pawnees were unable to keep up with their captain, as 
their horses were too badly jaded to endure extra riding ; 
Capt. North, however, was mounted on a superior 
animal, and being full of desperate pluck, was deter- 
mined to kill one Cheyenne at least. Looking back, at 
length, he saw his men fully a mile behind him, and sev- 
eral of them dismounted. Realizing the danger of his 
position, he took deliberate aim and fired at the Chey- 
ennes, one of whom tumbled from his pony dead. At 
this the other Indians turned on the Captain and he was 
compelled to flee for his life. 

The Indians rode rapidly after him, shooting con- 
stantly, until a bullet struck the Captain's horse in the 
side, rendering him unfit for further travel. Leaping to 
the ground, Captain North used his horse for a breast- 
work, from which he fired until the position had become 
too dangerous. He then started to run, but after getting 
several yards he remembered the two holsters on the 
saddle, each containing a loaded revolver, and he boldly 
returned for these. With these pistols he fought the 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 335 

Oheyennes nearly half an hour longer, and until relieved 
by Lieut. Small. This fight, one of the most daring ever 
made, is still spoken of, and the story frequently told 
over and over again among Western men, who almost 
reverence the name of Frank J. North. 

At the conclusion of the Tongue River campaign in 
1865-66, the Pawnees were mustered out of service and 
Captain North was appointed Post Trader at the Pawnee 
Reservation, where he spent the winter of 1866-67. 

In March following, while acting under the orders of 
Gen. Auger, Captain North raised a battalion of two 
hundred Pawnees, who were divided into four companies 
and taken to Fort Kearney, where they were equipped 
for cavalry service. He was then given a Major's com- 
mission, and with his Indian soldiers guarded construc- 
tion trains on the Union Pacific Railroad until its com- 
pletion to Ogden. In this service he was engaged almost 
constantly with depredating Sioux and Cheyennes, who 
descended on the construction trains at every opportu- 
nity. After the road had reached Utah, large shipments 
of silver were being made almost weekly, and as this 
precious metal was brought into stations in large bricks, 
which, for want of other storage, was usually piled up 
on and about the platforms to await shipment, Major 
North's Indians had also to perform the duty of guarding 
the precious metal. 

When the road was completed, Major North retired to 
a ranche on Dismal River, sixty-five miles north of North 
Platte, where he went into the cattle raising business. 
He needed some quiet occupation, because of a disease — 
asthma — which had been slowly sapping his existence 
for several years and which he had lost all hope of re- 
lieving. Buffalo Bill, after his first meeting with Major 
Clorth. at Fort McPherson, served with him on several 



336 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



campaigns, and in this service a very warm friendship 
sprang up between them, which led to the formation of 
a copartnership in the cattle ranche on Dismal Kiver, 
which still continues. The firm of Cody & North is 
known among cattle men in every part of America ; they 
now have seven thousand head of cattle and four hun- 




Silver Bricks Awaiting Shipment. 

dred head of horses, and to every one who calls at the 
Dismal Ranche there is a hearty, white man's welcome. 
Major North, aside from his reputation as an Indian 
fighter and brave man, is a gentleman of the most gen- 
erous and noble instincts ; popular with all classes, and a 
friend honest and honorable to the end. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 337 

Returning to the regular narrative, Buffalo Bill remain- 
ed at Ft. McPherson for several days, during which time 
he made the acquaintance of all the officers of that post, 
among whom was Lieut. Geo. P. Belden, the "White 
Chief," whose wonderful adventures have been so graph- 
ically recited in a large work written by Gen. James S. 
Brisbin, U. S.A. 

Belden, being a crack rifle-shot and having heard much 
concerning Buffalo Bill's skill, became anxious for a con- 
test in order that the excellence of their marksmanship 
might be determined. It was therefore scarcely an hour 
after they were introduced to each other before Belden 
had challenged Bill for a rifle match, which was as prompt- 
ly accepted. The terms and arrangements were that 
they should first shoot ten shots at a distance of two hun- 
dred yards, without rest, for fifty dollars a side. Fol- 
lowing this should be another match at one hundred yards 
on the same terms. Buffalo Bill won the first washer on 
an excellent margin, but Belden brought up his averages 
well by winning the second match, and with this stand off 
the crowd of spectators pronounced them both such supe- 
rior shots that neither could be beaten . 

Gen. Carr, before leaving McPherson, desired to man- 
ifest his appreciation of the valuable services rendered 
him by Buffalo Bill, and as the command was soon to 
start on another long expedition, it occurred to him that 
it would be an honor and excellent service to the army at 
the same time to have Buffalo Bill appointed chief of 
scouts in the Department of the Platte. Accordingly 
Gen. Carr made the necessary recommendation to Gen. 
Auger who at once issued the commission, allowing Bill a 
large increase of pay over the amount he received as 
chief of scouts in the Department of Missouri. This rec- 
ognition of his services greatly pleased the heroic scout, 



338 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

especially as the appointment was made without his solic- 
itation or knowledge that it was even thought of. 

It was late in the summer when the command started 
on an expedition through the Republican river country, 
and the heat interfered somewhat with its progress. It 
was certainly an interesting, as well as laughable, sight to 
see Major North's Pawnees equipped for cavalry service. 
To quote from the autobiography of Buffalo Bill: "The 
Pawnee scouts were also reviewed, and it was very amus- 
ing to see them in their full regulation uniform. They 
had been furnished with a regular cavalry uniform, and on 
this parade some of them had their heavy overcoats on, 
others their large black hats, with all the brass accoutre- 
ments attached ; some of them were minus pantaloons 
and only wore a breech-clout. Others wore regulation 
pantaloons but no shirt, and were bareheaded ; others 
again had the seat of their pantaloons cut out, leaving 
only leggins ; some wore brass spurs, but had neither 
boots nor moccasins. With all this melange of oddity 
they understood the drill remarkably well for Indians. 
The commands, of course, were given to them in their 
own language by Major North, who could talk it as well 
as any full blooded Pawnee." 

After the expedition had been moving for several days 
they approached near the mouth of Beaver Creek, where, 
the day being far advanced, the command went into 
camp. A herd of the draught mules was driven down 
to a convenient watering place several hundred yards 
from the camp ; as the herd was drinking, a party of 
fifty Sioux made a rapid descent on the herders, one of 
whom they shot and then stamped the mules. Buffalo 
Bill instantly leaped on his horse, bare-backed, and 
started for the scene of trouble, regardless of Indians or 
thought of danger. As he dashed down through the 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 339 

woods he was astonished to see the Pawnees come flying 
by him, whooping, and in red-hot pursuit of their im- 
placable enemies. The Sioux had seen the men go into 
camp but had not the remotest suspicion that any Paw- 
nees were present. They therefore considered it fun to 
make a sortie on the herd, stampede the mules and do 
other damage, and then flee away before the cavalry 
could get ready to follow them. The Pawnees, however, 
unlike regular soldiers, did not wait for orders, but see- 
ing a band of Sioux their enmity overleaped the bounds 
of discipline and they were bound to fight, which they 
did over a distance of fifteen miles, killing more than a 
dozen of the Sioux. 

After this little skirmish the expedition continued the 
march up Beaver and Prairie Dog rivers, but finding only 
small bands of apparently harmless Indians, at the end 
of twenty days the command returned to Ft. McPherson. 
This expedition, though proving of little advantage to 
the army, resulted most advantageously to Buffalo Bill, 
as it was the running fight at the mouth of the Beaver 
that threw into his way "Old Buckskin Joe," ahorse 
which afterward gained great notoriety in connection 
with Bill's exploits. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



The command under Gen. Carr did not remain long 
inactive at Ft. McPherson, for within one day after their 
return news was received of fresh depredations on Re- 
publican river, and the restless spirit of the troops, who 
were anxious to accomplish something more glorious than 



340 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

marches and counter marches, was sufficient excuse for 
the General to order them into the field again. 

The command moved westward up the Republican, 
preceded by two companies of Pawnees under Major 
North. Reaching Black Tail Deer Fork the expedition 
went into camp, but before the shadows of night had 
fallen, the Pawnees, who had not been heard from for 
some days, came riding down the winding stream toward 
camp, yelling their victorious exultations, and waving 
many reeking scalps above their heads. After they had 
alighted the information was speedily acquired, that Maj. 
North and his Pawnees had run into a foraging party of 
Sioux, several of whom they had killed. But a much 
larger body, composing in fact an extensive village, was 
discovered traveling northward, which being too strong 

© ' © © 

for the Pawnees to attack, Maj. North had ordered a 
quick return to the camp for the purpose of forming a 
junction and entering upon a pursuit. 

On the following morning the troops were put in mo- 
tion, Buffalo Bill, with a squad of six Pawnees, taking 
the lead and going ahead far enough to warn the com- 

DO © 

mand, by courier, should the Indians be discovered, 
thereby giving ample time to prepare for a charge. 

The Sioux trail was followed for two days, when, pass- 
ing several dying camp fires, each showing a more recent 
kindling, Bill was admonished that he was rapidly gain- 
ing on the moving village. Coming, at length, to the 
sand hills, a careful and cautious survey discovered the 
Indians encamped at Summit Springs. Bill immediately 
posted his Pawnee squad and rode back to Gen. Carr, 
who was ten miles in the rear, with report of the Sioux 
position. 

There was much bustle among the troops when the or- 
der was issued to " tighten saddles." Every cavalryman 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 341 

knew what that order meant, and the Pawnees under 
Major North could scarcely be constrained. Everything 
having been put in readiness, the command pushed for- 
ward rapidly after Buffalo Bill, who led the way in a 
sharp gallop. 

Reaching within a mile of the unsuspecting Sioux, Bill 
changed horses, mounting his reliable " Buckskin Joe," 
which had given substantial evidence of being the 
swiftest horse with Gen. Carr's expedition. He then told 
the General to follow after him and he would lead the 
command between the village and South Platte Eiver, by 
which movement the intervening hills would enable them 
to approach so near as to give the Indians a complete 
surprise. 

Buffalo Bill's suggestions were adopted, and with such 
success that the charge was not sounded until the entire 
command was within a thousand yards of the Indians, 
who were just preparing to move on, most of their 
horses being already in readiness. For a moment 
the Sioux seemed to be struck dumb with astonish- 
ment at beholding such an array of cavalry bearing down 
upon them. A few attempted to meet the charge, but 
only for an instant, when ■ they wheeled and the entire 
village fled precipitately. But luggage and incomplete 
preparation impeded their flight, and ere they had gone 
half a mile, the troops, following Buffalo Bill, were 
among them, shooting right and left with terrible effect. 

The pursuit continued until darkness made it impossi- 
ble to longer follow the Indians, who had scattered and 
were leading off in every direction like a brood of young 
quails. The expedition went into camp along the South 
Platte, much exhausted by so long a chase, and though 
very tired, every trooper seemed anxious for the morrow. 

It was nearly sunrise when ' ' boots and saddles ' ' was 



o42 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

sounded, breakfast having been disposed of at break ol 
day. The command started in a most seasonable time, 
but finding that the trail was all broken up, it was deemed 
advisable to separate into companies, each to follow a dif 
f erent trail . 

The company headed by Buffalo Bill struck out toward 
the Northwest over a route indicating the march of about 
one hundred Indians, and followed this for nearly two 
days. At a short bend of the Platte a new trail was dis- 
covered leading into the one the company was following, 
and at this point it was evident that a junction had been 
made. Further along the evidence of a reunion of the 
entire village increased, and now it began to appear that 
further pursuit would be somewhat hazardous, owing to 
the largely increased force of Indians. But there were 
plenty of brave men in the company and nearly all were 
anxious to meet the Indians, however great their numbers 
might be. This anxiety was appeased on the third day, 
when a party of about six hundred Sioux was discovered 
riding in close ranks near the Platte. The discovery was 
mutual and there was immediate preparation for battle 
on both sides. Owing to the overwhelming force of the 
Indians, extreme caution became necessary, and instead 
of advancing boldly the soldiers sought advantageous 
ground. Seeing this, the Indians became convinced that 
there had been a division in Gen. Carr's command and that 
the company before them was a fragmentary part of the 
expedition ; they therefore assumed the aggressive, charg- 
ing the soldiers who retired to a ravine to act on the de- 
fensive. The attack was made with such caution that the 
soldiers fell buck without undue haste, and had ample 
opportunity to secure their horses in the natural pit, 
which was a ravine that during wet seasons formed a 
branch of the Platte. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 343 

After circling about the soldiers with the view of meas- 
uring their full strength, the Indians, comprehending how 
small was the number, made a desperate charge from two 
sides, getting so near that several of the soldiers were 
badly wounded by arrows. But the Indians were received 
with such withering fire that they fell back in confusion, 
leaving twenty of their warriors on the ground. Another 
charge resulted like the first, with heavy loss to the red 
skins, which so discouraged them that they drew off and 
held a long council . After discussing the situation among 
themselves for more than an hour they separated, one 
body making off as though they intended to leave, but 
Buffalo Bill understood their motions too well to allow 
the soldiers to be deceived. 

The Indians that remained again began to ride in a 
circle around the soldiers, but maintaining a safe distance, 
out of rifle range. Seeing an especially well mounted 
Indian riding at the head of a squad, passing around in 
the same circle more than a dozen times, Buffalo Bill 
decided to take his chances for dismounting the chief 
(as he proved to be), and to accomplish his purpose he 
crawled on his hands and knees three hundred yards up 
the ravine, stopping at a point he considered would be in 
range of the Indian when he should again make the cir- 
cuit. His judgment proved correct, for soon the Indian 
was seen loping his pony through the grass, and as he 
slackened speed to cross the ravine, Bill rose up and 
fired, the aim being so well taken that the chief tumbled 
to the ground while his horse, after running a few hun- 
dred yards, approached the soldiers, one of whom ran 
out and caught hold of the lono; lariet attached to the 
bridle, and thus secured the animal. Bill returned to the 
company, all of whom had witnessed his feat of killing an 
Indian at a range of fully four hundred yards, and by 



344 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



general consent the horse of his victim was given to him. 
This Indian killed by Bill proved to be Tall Bull, one 
of the most cunning and able chiefs the Sioux ever had, 
and his death so affected the Indians that they at once re- 
treated without further attempt to dislodge the soldiers. 

Some days after this occurrence 
Gen. Carr's command was brought 
together again and in an engage- 
ment with the Sioux, more than 
three hundred warriors and a large 
number of ponies were captured, 
with several hundred 
squaws, among 
the latter being 
Tall Bull's wid, 
ow, who told 
with pathetic in* 
terest how the 
Prairie Chief * 
had killed her 
husband. But 
instead of being 




women would 
have been under 
like circumstan- 
ces, she regarded 
him with special 
favor, and es- 



moved with ha- 
tred against him, 
as most civilized 



Death of Tall Bull. 

teemed it quite an honor that her husband, a great war- 
rior himself, should have met his death at the hands of 
so mighty and celebrated a person as the Prairie Chief. 
She ever afterward regarded Buffalo Bill with a feeling 
akin to tender affection, or as near that sentiment as an 
Indian squaw could be expected to approach, and invari- 
ably availed herself of every opportunity to show her 
esteem for him. 



*Buftalo Bill is known among all Northern Indians as the Prairie Chief. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 345 

The expedition having succeeded in thoroughly break- 
ing the power of the Sioux, Gen. Carr went into bar- 
racks at Ft. Sedgwick, where the soldiers, elated with 
the trophies of their success, indulged in merrymaking 
until a jollier camp was never seen than that around 
Jule's old ranche. One special feature of this glorious 
celebration was horse racing, in which Buffalo Bill backed 
his new acquisition, which, in honor of his dead owner, 
Bill generously called Tall Bull, against all the horses of 
the regiment, and put up all his available cash, even to 
the last paper five-cent piece. His winnings amounted 
to just seven hundred dollars in cash, three jack knives, 
two scalps and a two-stringed fiddle. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



Gen. Carr having received a leave of absence, when 
his command reached Ft. McPherson Gen. W. H. Emory 
took charge of the Republican River District, and the 
Fifth Cavalry went into regular quarters. 

Buffalo Bill being assured that the command would 
remain at McPherson as a reward for the long and severe 
labor performed by the regiment, had a house built, and 
then sent for his wife and daughter, who were in St. 
Louis, to come to him, as McPherson would now be their 
home. 

Two years passed without the occurrence of any event 
of special interest connected with Buffalo Bill, his time 
being spent in hunting and home occupations. 

In the winter of 1869-70 Bill accompanied two parties 
of wealthy Englishmen upon a hunting expedition, in 



346 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

which he acquitted himself with such credit and satisfac- 
tion that upon returning home the Englishmen sounded 
his praises so earnestly that letters began to pour in from 
other wealthy gentlemen of England propounding hun- 
dreds of questions appertaining to hunting on the great 
"Western prairies. 

During the visit of the Englishmen, a horse race was 
arranged at Ft. McPherson, to take place between Buf- 
falo Bill, who was to ride Tall Bull, and a cavalryman 
who owned what he considered a fast horse. There was 
a singular feature about this race, however, which was a 
stipulation that while running Bill should leap from his 
horse to the ground and then remount again eight con- 
secutive times before completing the course, which was 
one mile in length. His advantage seemed so great that 
every one bet on the cavalryman ; in fact, few believed 
Bill was circus man enough to perform this feat, and none 
believed it less than the Englishmen. But the race was run 
according to programme, and Bill won it easily, together 
with several hundred dollars from his foreign guests. 
Leaping and remounting from a running horse is an act 
as easy for Buffalo Bill to perform as it is p or a profes- 
sional bareback rider to assume a standing osition on a 
moving horse. 

In the spring of 1870 a party of Indians nade a de- 
scent on a stock ranche near McPherson and succeeded 
in running off twenty-one head of horses, and coming 
closer to the post during night, also got away with an- 
other fast horse owned by Cody, which he called Powder 
Face. 

The moment this loss was discovered, Company I was 
ordered to pursue the thieves, Buffalo Bill being sent 
with the soldiers as trailer. An early start was made and 
bo fast did the company move that they covered sixty 



LIFE OF P.UFFALO BILL. 



347 



miles before sundown. An encampment was made within 
four miles of Red Willow Creek, on the banks of which 
Bill expressed his earnest belief that the Indian thieves 
were camped. But to verify his suspicions he made an 
investigation, unaccompanied, during the night, and sure 
enough he found them, with guard posted, about four 
miles from the company's camp. 

Having located the Indians, he returned to the camp 
and posting the soldiers, arranged matters for an attack 




Two Indians at One Shot. 

before daylight on the following morning. His pro- 
gramme was carried out with such success that the cavalry, 
which he headed, rode with shout, pistol and saber into 
the Indian village just as the gray dawn was appearing. 
Sharp work succeeded, in which there was a rapid deci- 
mation of the red race. Several Indians, however, suc- 
ceeded in mounting ponies and a pursuit ensued in 
which Buffalo Bill took a specially interesting part, as 



348 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

his Powder Face carried one of the fleeing thieves. i)yr- 
ins; this interesting race Bill ran down two Indians whc 
were riding the same pony, and by a skillful shot sent a 
rifle ball through both their bodies, felling them to the 
ground still locked together. But Powder Face being 
the swiftest horse among the cavalry, Bill was compelled, 
with chagrin and mortification, to see the thief who rode 
him disappear in the distance. 

The pursuit terminated with excellent results, for all 
the stolen horses were recovered except Powder Face, and 
more than a dozen Indian scalps were brought back as a 
compensation for that loss — and they all belonged to 
Bill, too. 

Soon after this most successful surprise an expedition 
was organized to again penetrate the Republican river 
country, the command being entrusted to Gen. Thomas 
Duncan, who was first ofiicer under Brevet Maj. Gen. 
Emory. Now, it chanced that Gen. Duncan, while one 
of the best and bravest soldiers, was a rigid disciplina- 
rian, and at the same time full of eccentricities. In fact 
he had but to be sounded when immediately there would 
escape so much good humor and infectious jokes that the 
whole regiment would be almost paralyzed with uncon- 
trolable laughter. There was fun ahead for the boys, 
though duty was always imperative with their commander. 

The expedition was accompanied by Maj. North's Paw- 
nee scouts, who, while they had done genuine fighting 
service, had never been placed on guard duty. But Gen. 
Duncan was determined that they should be in every 
sense thorough soldiers, and consequently the Pawnees 
must be initiated. Of'course, beingwith white men only 
for a short season, and having an officer over them who 
was fluent in their own language, the Pawnees were abso- 
lutely ignorant of English, save to repeat, like a parrot, 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 349 

a few words which they heard frequently used. But this 
fact was ignored by Gen. Duncan, who ordered the guard 
stationed around camp and that every post should call 
each hour of the night as it was sounded, thus : 

"Post No. 1, ten o'clock, all is well." "Post No. 2, 
ten o'clock, all is well," and so on, until the entire guard 
had made the call. 

This order was explained to the Pawnees by Maj. 
North, but with all his explanations they could not com- 
prehend the meaning, or if comprehending, their igno- 
rance of English prevented them from executing the or- 
der with intelligence. The result was as follows : 

The hour being called by one of the soldiers, the In- 
dian occupying the adjoining post would sing out through 
a distorted remembrance : 

"Ploss numbler five cents o'clock — go to h — 1 — don't 
care, big chief." 

Another would try to repeat and stumble onto : 

* ' Ploss numbler half past — How ! — heap John — 
drink." 

They started out right, but after the first two words 
recollection came to them only in expressions which they 
had previously fixed in their minds. 

This system, while it was superbly ridiculous, fur- 
nished food for laughter, and every night came to be a 
regular love-feast of fun ; but, like a joke frequently 
told, it at length grew tedious and Gen. Duncan was 
compelled to countermand the order, which relieved the 
Pawnees from guard duty, much to their satisfaction. 

The expedition after remaining out for several days, 
met a party of Indians, who had massacred the Buck sur- 
veyors, and had a running fight with them. Buf- 
falo Bill had a whip shot from his hand and a bullet 
went through his hat, but he killed two Indians by way 



350 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

of compensation for his narrow escape. Meeting with no 
further adventures, the command returned to Ft. Mc- 
Pherson, where, upon arrival, Bill received from his 
wife the celestial gift of a first son, whom he named Kit 
Carson. 

Peace being now restored, and all the troublesome In- 
dians having returned to their reservations, Ft. McPher- 
son became a quiet place, save for the usual disturbances 
indirectly chargeable to sutler's stores. 

Bill, though still chief of scouts, performed little 
scouting service except between quarters and refreshment 
stations, which is always a congenial occupation to good 
trailers. 

One day, as he was cracking jokes, spinning yarns, 
and keeping things about the post in good humor and 
condition, Gen. Emory approached him and said : 

"Cod} r , I am annoyed very much by the petty thiev- 
ing that is going on about here, nearly every day having 
to hear complaints from persons who have either lost 
horses or other personal property. We need a Justice of 
the Peace very badly, and I have decided to bestow that 
office on you." 

" Good gracious ! General, I appreciate the compli- 
ment, but if you can pick out any one of the Government 
mules about here that knows less of law than I do, then 
I'll give him my recommendation for the appointment." 

"Well, you are not required to know much law; 
rather to discriminate between right and wrong, and mete 
out proper punishment." 

"I know," answered Bill, "that it's wrong to get 
drunk ; in fact, against the law — military — but just what 
written law I couldn't tell." 

" I can, perhaps, deal with drunkenness in camp ; I 
want you to deal with the thieves." 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 351 

"All right, General, I can string a thief without 
mercy, and if that's the purpose of my appointment, 
why, just put your fist to the commission." 

Bill was duly appointed 'Squire, and in about fifteen 
minutes after receiving his authority, a party living at 
McPherson, sought him with the following complaint : 

" Say. 'Squire, a yaller-legged ranchero, that lives up 
on the Beaver, has jist stole one o' my hosses an' I want 
a writ o' replevin." 

" Want a writ of replevin? why, don't you want your 
horse? What good would a writ of replevin do you with- 
out you first had the horse?" 

" I don't know, they told me down here at headquar- 
ters that you was the 'Squire, and to ax you for a writ o' 
replevin." 

" Where is your horse now?' 

" Why, old yaller-legs is a driving ov him like h — 1 
to'ard Beaver. 

Bill turned around, and taking Lucretia Borgia, his 
rifle, from the rack, went out, mounted his horse, and 
told the complainant to lead off in the direction taken by 
"Yaller-legs." 

The two rode rapidly for several miles, until they 
caught up with the thief, who was driving several head 
of horses. 

Bill accosted him : " Hello ! you've got a horse in that 
herd that belongs to this complainant ; that piebald on 
the off side he says belongs to him." 

" Well, what are you going to do about it?" 

" I'm going to make you cut out the horse, put a rope 
around his neck and deliver him to this man," an- 
swered Bill, at the same time bringing his rifle to a posi- 
tion suggestive of slaughter. 

The thief obeyed the order with alacrity, but after 



352 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

turning over the horse, Bill told him there were some 
damages to- settle, and if the settlement were not made 
at once, he would take him back to McPherson. 

" I can't go back there, my time is too precious ; what 
are the damages ?' ' 

" Twenty dollars," replied Bill, which sum was imme- 
diately paid over and duly credited to Buffalo Bill's " of- 
ficial ' ' account. 

Soon after this incident, the knowledge of there being 
a 'squire in McPherson prompted a sample resident of 
the place to call on Bill and arrange terms with him for 
performing a marriage ceremony. 

" How much money have you got, young man," asked 
Bill. 

"O, I h'aint got much, but maybe I could raise ten 
dollars." 

"Ten dollars goes," replied Bill ; "bring over the girl 
and I'll hitch you according to the law and the prophets." 

After the applicant had departed, Bill got down a copy 
of the Nebraska statutes and for more than an hour tried 
with becoming assiduity to find the form prescribed for 
marriage, but it was worse than hunting for Indians dur- 
ing a dark night in high prairie grass ; he couldn't find it. 

Thus unprepared, Bill was soon called on by the in- 
tended groom and bride, both of whom were apparently 
bowed down with either the gravity of the situation, 
or an innate diffidence, which Mas greatly increased by 
the motley crowd that stood around in the room waiting 
to witness the ceremony. 

Bill infused some courage into the bewildered couple 
by saying : 

"Are you the parties who want to get married?" 

A feeble " yes" came from the groom. 

"Well, then, brace up and answer the questions the 
law makes it my duty to ask you." 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 



353 



To the bridegroom — "Do you take this woman to be 
your wedded wife ; to honor, support and protect her 
through life ? " 

"Yes, sir." 

To the bride — "Do you accept this man for your law- 
ful husband ; to love, cherish and obey him, through good 
and ill report?" 

"Yes, sir." 




The Marriage Ceremony. 



"That's good : now join hands while I pronounce the 
benediction : I now declare you man and wife, and let me 
add that whomsoever God and Buffalo Bill join together 
let no man put asunder. May you live long and prosper. 
Amen !' • 

The ceremony being completed, Bill kissed the bride, 
after which there was an adjournment for irrigating 
purposes. 



354 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Early in September, 1871, a grand hunt was projected 
by Gen. Sheridan, whose intention was to afford some of 
his Eastern friends the excitement of a buffalo chase. 
Accordingly invitations to participate in the hunt were 
issued to and accepted by the following gentlemen : 
James Gordon Bennett .; Gen. Anson Stager, of the West- 
ern Union Telegragh Company ; Charles Wilson, editor 
Chicago Journal; Lawrence R. and Leonard W. Jerome ; 
(Jen. II. E. Davies ; Gen. Fitzhugh ; Gen. Rucker ; Capt. 
M. E. Rogers ; Carroll Livingston, and Surgeon General 
Arsch. 

This party having announced their coming, were receiv- 
ed at Ft. McPherson by a cavalry company escort under 
Gen. Emory and Major Brown. Almost immediately 
upon their arrival Gen. Sheridan sent for Buffalo Bill 
whom he introduced with flattering remarks to each one 
in the hunting party, after whieh he told Bill that the 
gentlemen had come to McPherson with the expectation 
of taking a big hunt under his special guidance and direc- 
tion. 

In anticipation of the arrival of these distinguished and 
wealthy gentlemen, Bill had taken considerable pains to 
present a slick appearance, having, as he expressed it, 
"curled my front teeth; brushed up a new buckskin 
toga; put on my Sunday moccasins;" combed out the 
fringe on my trousers, and left nothing undone save 
' banging' m v front hair." 

In a very interesting pamphlet of sixty-eight pages 
which Gen. Davies afterward wrote, describing the inci- 
dents of this pleasurable hunt, under the title. " Ten Days 
on the Plains," he mentions the fact that at his meeting 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 355 

with Buffalo Bill on the occasion referred to, he thought 
the scout was the handsomest man that had ever trod the 
prairies ; such a perfect type of physical manhood, com- 
bining a powerful physique with such rare symmetry and 
harmony of feature, which perfections were brought 
into greater prominence by the extraordinary grace of 
his movements. 

The party hunted over a large extent of territory for a 
period of ten days, killing many buffaloes, turkeys, jack 
rabbits, antelopes, etc., and having an excellent cook with 
them the cuisine was equal, if not superior, to the epicu- 
rean dainties set at Olympian feasts. 

Early in January, 1872, Gen. Forsyth and Dr. Arsch, 
both of Gen Sheridan's staff, visited Buffalo Bill at Ft. 
McPherson for the purpose of arranging with him the 
preliminaries of a grand buffalo hunt which the Grand 
Duke Alexis, who was then visiting the United States, 
had expressed a desire to participate in. As the royal 
guest of the nation deserved, by reason of his position, 
special recognition, Bill at once conceived the idea of en- 
gaging a large number of Indians to take part in the hunt, 
and add to the Duke's pleasure by giving exhibitions and 
ceremonies which would acquaint him with their peculiar 
life. Acting upon this idea he visited Spotted Tail's 
camp — Sioux — on the Red Willow, where he readily in- 
fluenced one hundred of the leading chiefs and warriors 
to accompany the Duke, and by his further request they 
assembled at Government Crossing, on the Red Willow. 
After obtaining the consent of the Indians, Capt. Eagan 
with a company from the second cavalry was despatched 
to the meeting point to arrange for the Duke's recsption. 
The ground was cleared and leveled, a large wall tent 
erected and plenty of stores were carefully packed away 
sufficient to last the Duke's party during the hunt. 



35G 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



On the 12th of January, the royal guest and his party 
arrived at North Platte, over the Union Pacific Railroad, 
where they were received by Buffalo Bill, Captain Hays 
and a company of cavalry under Captain Eagan. There 
were also in waiting six ambulances and twenty extra 
saddle horses. Gen. Sheridan accompanied the Grand 




-J 



How! " 



Duke and introduced him to Buffalo Bill, whereupon Bill 
tendered His Highness the use of Buckskin Joe, a famous 
buffalo horse, and an hour afterward the party were 
mounted and riding southward across the South Platte 
toward Medicine River. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 357 

Reaching the rendezvous on Red Willow, all necessary 
arrangements were found completed, and the Indians 
were in waiting, ready for the ceremonies expected of 
them. 

Several members of the party were introduced to Spot- 
ted Tail, who appeared clad in government clothes, but 
which, it was evident, were never made for him. He 
wore a U. S. belt, with the buckle upside down, and as 
he advanced with extended hand, saying "How," he was 
a good model for a caricature artist. 

In the afternoon, the Duke was highly entertained with 
exhibitions of wonderful horsemanship, lance throwing, 
bow shooting and sham fights, and in the evening the 
Indians gave a grand war dance, in which many of their 
singular ceremonies were introduced. 

On the following day, Bill rode beside the Grand 
Duke and instructed him in the manner of shooting buf- 
faloes, until looking away to the south nearly two miles, 
a large herd was discovered crossing the party's intended 
route. In a moment the Duke became very much excited 
and anxious to charge directly toward the buffaloes, but 
Bill restrained him for a time, until getting around to 
windward and keeping behind the sand hills, the herd 
was gradually approached. 

"Now," said Bill, "is your time; you must ride as 
fast as your horse will go, and don't shoot until you get 
a good opportunity." 

Away they went, tearing down the hill and throwiug 
up a sand storm in the rear, leaving the Duke's retinue 
far behind. When within a hundred yards of the fleeing 
buffaloes the Duke fired, but unfortunately missed, being 
unused to shooting from a running horse. 

Bill rode up close beside him and advised him not to 
fire until he could ride directly up on the flank of a buf- 
falo, as the sport was most in the chase. 



358 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



The two now dashed off together and ran their horses 
on either side of a large bull, against the side of -which 
the Duke thrust his gun and fired a fatal shot. He was 
very much elated at his success, taking off his cap and 
waving it vehemently, at the same time shouting to those 
who were fully a mile in the rear. When his retinue 
came up there were congratulations, and every one drank 
to his good health with overflowing glasses of cham- 
pagne. The hide of the dead buffalo was carefully re- 
moved and dressed, and the royal traveler in his journey- 










25*zafe£"' 



The Grand Duke's First Buffalo. 



ings over the world has no doubt often rested himself up- 
on this trophy of his skill ( ?) on the plains of America. 
An encampment was now made, as the party was quite 
fatigued, and the evening passed with song and story. 
( )u the following day, by request of Spotted Tail, the 
Grand Duke hunted for a while beside "Two Lance," 
a celebrated chief, who claimed he could send an arrow 
entirely through the body of the largest buffalo. This 
feat seemed bo incredulous that there was a general de- 
nial of his ability to perform it; nevertheless, the Grand 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 359 

Duke and nhq several others who accompanied the chief, 
witnessed, with profound astonishment, an accomplish- 
ment of the ferft, and the arrow that passed through the 
buffalo was given to the Duke as a memento of Two 
Lance's skill and power. 

On the same day of this performance the Grand Duke 
killed a buffalo at a distance of one hundred paces, with 
a heavy navy revolver. The shot was a marvelous — 
scratch. 

After the hunt was concluded, Buffalo Bill, upon invi- 
tation of Gen. Sheridan, took the reins of an ambulance 
team and showed the Duke how old stage drivers set their 
horses il afire." But the drive was not appreciated suf- 
ficiently to applaud, for the Duke was an occupant of the 
ambulance. As they went down hill toward the Medi- 
cine at the rate of sixty miles a minute — more or less — 
there was a tuft of royal hair sticking up like a sugar 
loaf, while his coat-tails were flapping and cracking like 
the whips of an army of bull-whackers. 

North Platte was reached after a week's absence, and 
upon taking the train for the East, the Grand Duke in- 
vited Bill into his car where, as a recognition of his re- 
gard and appreciation, he gave him numerous* and valuable 
presents, concluding by extending him a cordial invita- 
tion to visit Russia, where he promised to receive him 
royally. 

Soon after the Grand Duke's departure, Buffalo Bill 
received an invitation from a lan>;e number of leading; 
men of New York City, to visit the East ; among those 
who desired to extend him their hospitalities were James 
Gordon Bennett, August Belmont, Leonard W. Jerome, 
and many others of equal prominence. At the earnest 
solicitation of Gen. Sheridan, Bill at length concluded to 
accept the invitation, and made preparations accordingly. 



360 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Gen. Stager provided him with railroad, passes and ar- 
ranged for him to stop at Chicago, Niagara Falls, Buf- 
falo and Rochester. At all these places' a committee of 
reception was appointed to receive him with becoming 
honor-, and he was introduced into the best society of all 
these cities. 

Upon arriving at New York, Bill was received by a 
committee who escorted him directly to the Union Club, 
where he met the wealthy gentlemen who had sent the 
invitation. He was now taken in charge by the members, 
who gave him one ceaseless round of dinners and parties. 
Invitations came in on him so rapidly that it was con- 
fusion worse confounded, and he was in a very whirlpool 
of demoralization. One of the largest dinners given in 
his honor was prepared by James Gordon Bennett, but 
Bill was in such purturbation of mind, owing to the hun- 
dreds of invitations which lay before him, that he was un- 
able to decide which had precedence, and consequently 
the Bennett dinner had to be postponed. 

Mr. August Belmont then prepared a dinner for Bill, 
which was one of the most elegant affairs known in New 
York even to this day, and it is good to remember the 
fact th.it Bill graced the occasion with his presence, and 
Bennett was ;ilso there with forgiveness in his right 
hand for Bill's delinquency. 

Dining this visit Buffalo Bill had the pleasure of attend- 
ing the Bowery Theater, wherewas beingproduced a play 
entitled" Buffalo Bill, the King of Border Men," thereby 
Beeing Bome of his noted adventures mirrored by an ex- 
cellent actor named J.B. Studly. The play was a decid- 
ed success, and as it became known among: the audience 
that the real hero occupied a private boxin the theatre, a 
ahout went up which would not abate until the manager 
Led Bill out on the stage for a speech. The house was 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 361 

fairly tilled to overflowing, and as the great scout had 
never appeared in the role of public speaker, he was 
worse embarrassed than the diffident couple he had mar- 
ried several months previously at Ft. McPherson. The 
fact is, he never felt so badly corraled in his life as he did 
on that occasion, and after muttering a few unintelligible 
words he retreated in disorder behind the scenes. But 
notwithstanding his embarrassment, the manager offered 
him five hundred dollars a week to take the leading role 
in the performance. But this amount was insufficient to 
counteract his extraordinary "want of cheek," and he 
declined the offer. 

After indulging in an uninterrupted round of festivities 
for twenty days, Buffalo Bill visited some of his relatives 
in Westchester, Pennsylvania, whom he had never seen, 
and after spending a few days, in obedience to a tele- 
gram received from Gen. Sheridan, he returned to Ft. 
McPherson where his services were needed. 

Directly after his arrival at the post, a party of Indians 
made an attack on McPherson Station, five miles from 
the fort, and after killing three men ran off several head 
of horses and cattle. 

Captain Meinhold was at once ordered out with his 
company to pursue the depredating Indians, and Buffalo 
Bill was, of course, expected to accompany the command 
as trailer. On this expedition he had an assistant scout 
with him in the person of J. B. Omohundro, known 
throughout the United States as " Texas Jack," of whose 
career some mention will be made before concluding the 
adventures of Buffalo Bill. 

For two days the command moved slowly on account 
of the indefinite trail, which the Indians had taken such 
pains to cover that it was almost impossible to follow it". 
However Bill's fertility of well-directed suspicions car- 



362 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ried the expedition to a point on the South Fork of the 
Loupe, where a camp was prepared at which all the sol- 
diers, except four, halted, while Buffalo Bill, Texas Jack 
and the detail of four men pushed forward to reconnoitre 
a heavy strip of timber in which Bill thought the Indians 
were secreted. 

Proceeding only a few miles and gaining the summit 
of a high ridge, Bill surveyed the country within his 
vision and saw encamped at the timber edge about one 
dozen Indians and near them several head of horses were 
grazing. He immediately proposed to charge the sav- 
ages rather than take the chances of their escaping dur- 
ing his return to the command. All his men being of 
like mind, Bill rode down toward the Indians, keeping 
well behind the brush until he approached within a few 
hundred yards. He now ordered a charge which was 
made with such impetuosity that he was carried directly 
through the camp. The Indians, after firing a single 
volley, broke for their horses, but being too closely pur- 
sued tried to make another stand. Bill shot down two 
of them before they rallied, and killed a third one as he 
waa trying to cross the Loupe. There were thirteen In- 
dians in the original party, but three of them being killed 
the odds were now only six to ten. Some of them had 
crossed the river and these Bill pursued, expecting his 
nun to follow, but instead of so doing, they rushed after 
>cven of the Indians who remained on the north side of 
the river. Suddenly he found himself alone and at the 

same ti saw two of the fugitives turn and ride di- 

reetlv toward him, shooting and yelling. He was struck 
by <»ne of the shots in the left side of the head, produc- 
ing only a scalp-wound, but drawing so much blood that 
he was almost blinded by the flow. With a swipe of his 
hand ho cleared his face for a moment so as to fire, and 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 363 

with the shot an Indian fell dead. The other one now 
turned to run, but Bill pushed his horse forward and 
when within a few j^ards, he raised himself in the stir- 
rups and shot the Indian dead, thus scoring five Indians 
himself in a fight of ouly a few minutes, the scalps of 
which he secured and also recovered all the stolen stock. 
Capt. Meinhold, hearing the firing, ordered his compa- 
ny into the saddle, but when the soldiers approached the 
scene of battle they found only the spoils of victory ; 
seven dead Indians, as many bloody scalps, and twenty 
horses. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Returning from this expedition Buffalo Bill was en- 
gaged to accompany the Earl of Dunravenon an elk hunt, 
which lasted three weeks, to the infinite delight of the 
Earl, who was an excellent sportsman. Before complet- 
ing this hunt, however, a party of wealthy gentlemen of 
Chicago went out to Ft. McPherson with letters from 
Gen. Sheridan, inviting Bill to guide them on a hunt, and 
so pressing was their invitation that he placed the Earl in 
charge of Texas Jack and accompanied the Chicago gen- 
tlemen, among whom were E. P. Green, Alexander Sam- 
ple, Mr. Mulligan, of Keath & Mulligan, and a number 
of others. During this excursion the pleasure party was 
jumped by a band of Indians and had to run for a dis- 
tance of six miles back to camp — and the way they push- 
ed on the reins was interesting; to see. 

Following this hunt came another with several mer- 
chants, judges and lawyers from Omaha. U. S. District 
22 



3b4 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Attorney Neville was oue of this party, and was a novelty 
of no insignificant pretensions. He wore a plug hat and 
swallow-tailed coat which gave him a most amusing ap- 
pearance when pursuing buffaloes. 

After getting fairly upon the hunting grounds, at the 
request of the party, who were anxious to see so strange 
and dextrous a feat performed, Bill lariated a large buffalo 
bull, while on a tight run, and then tied the animal to a 
tree, a thorough captive. But throwing the lasso was an 
easy employment for Bill, as he had practiced the art for 
several years and acquired a dexterity rarely to be met 
with, even among Mexicans. 

In the fall of 1872 a convention of Democrats was held 
at Grand Island for the purpose of nominating a candi- 
date to represent the Twenty-sixth Legislative District. 
Every county in the State was overwhelmingly Republi- 
can, and the Twenty-sixth District was as one-sided as a 
jug handle. Nominations were made by the Democrats, 
not with the view of electing their candidates, however, 
but for the purpose of maintaining their party organiza- 
tion. 

In the convention referred to some one proposed the 
name of Win. F. Cody for representative, and with the 
proposition a cheer went up forthwith which resulted in 
placing his name formally before the convention, where 
his nomination was instantly made unanimous. 

No one was ever more surprised than Bill when ke was 
informed of the convention's action, nor would he believe 
that his candidacy had really been considered until offi- 
cial information made the fact incontestable. He felt 
that it would be cowardice for him to refuse to make the 
race, as some one must be immolated for party's sake, 
and justice impressed him with the belief that he might 
as properly be the victim as any other man. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 365 

Being absent from home more than nine-tenths of his 
time, he made no canvass whatever of the district, yet 
his personal popularity was so great that nearly every one 
in the district, whether Democrat or Republican, gave 
him their votes, and his election was a triumph few men 
ever achieve. It was a testimonial to his honor, ability 
and noble qualities of such priceless value that what 
would not any man give to be the recipient of a like esti- 
mation ? 

But however great the honors, beyond the gratitude 
he felt he indulged little of the pride of his position, for 
about the time of taking his seat in the legislature a 
proposition was made him which his best interests dic- 
tated an acceptance of. Ned Buntline, who only a few 
years previously had met Buffalo Bill and made fame for 
both by his stories concerning the scout's adventures, 
published in the New York Weekly, being greatly im- 
pressed with the popular qualities of his hero, made him 
a flattering offer for his services as a leading theatrical 
attraction. 

The proposition, when first made, very naturally 
appeared somewhat ridiculous to Bill, who thoroughly 
appreciated his imperfections and lack of experience, and 
was especially haunted by the remembrance of his confu- 
sion during his appearance at the Bowery Theater. But 
Buntline put a silver lining to all his persuasive words and 
covered his promises with a heavy veneering of gold. 

The final result was that Bill resigned his seat in the 
legislature, and in the latter part of November he sent his 
letter of resignation to Gen. Reynolds as chief of scouts. 

Having settled matters in the West, Bill took his fam- 
ily and started East, stopping one day in Omaha to ac- 
cept the recognition paid his services by the citizens who 
had enjoyed his company on the hunt already referred to. 



366 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

A grand dinner was the means taken for affording the 
recognition and appreciation they desired to manifest, 
and an elegant time was the result. 

At Omaha Bill met Texas Jack, who had played the 
role of first assistant hero in Buntline's stories, and as 
Jack was anxious to accompany his old friend, Bill gladly 
engaged his company. They proceeded directly to Chi- 
cago, where Ned Buntline was stopping, while Bill's 
family went to their relations in St. Louis, who were not 
only glad to welcome Mrs. Cody but also to see the new 
accession, little Ora, who had been born only a short 
while before Bill's election to the legislature. 

Upon reaching Chicago, Bill and Jack were met at the 
depot by Mr. Mulligan, who had engaged rooms at the 
Sherman House, intending that the two scouts should be 
his guests. 

Buntline was so busily engaged delivering temperance 
lectures and preparing for the introduction of his stellary 
duet that it was not until the following day that he met 
the two rising theatrical comets. 

When the three did meet, Bill and Jack were astounded 
upon shaking hands with Buntline to hear him spin out 
the following, scarcely taking time to breathe between sen- 
tences. 

' ' How are you ? — glad to see you — just in time — got ev- 
erything arranged and we're going to make an immense hit 
— come over to the Amphitheatre with me and see Nixon, 
he's th<- manager — we open there Monday night and you 
must stir about lively so as to be ready — how do you 
feel? when did you arrive? — where are you stopping?" 
and thus he rattled away, like an old alarm clock just 
wound up, with a broken ratchet, and until he had run 
down somewhat neither of the scouts could reply. 

"When Bill caught up with the machine he managed to 
stammer out by way of contrast: 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 367 

" Well, Buntline, I don't see just where to catch, on ; 
you don't mean to say that Jack and I are expected to 
make our appearance on the stage next Monday night?" 

"That's just what I mean, and I have made arrange- 
ments accordingly. Come with me and we'll call on the 
manager. " 

The two scouts, who now perceived that they were trail- 
ing down a strange canon, followed their new guide and 
said nothing further. 

They proceeded to the Ampitheatre, where Mr. Nixon 
was found awaiting them, and to whom the scouts were 
introduced, after which Buntline said : 

"Well, Nixon, here are the boys, and they are a pat 
hand, all flushes and fours, I tell you. We will open up 
on next Monday night with a flourish that will fire the 
people." 

" So early as that, Ned? That will scarcely give 
the gentlemen time for preparation. Let me see your 
drama, and perhaps I can be of some assistance in organ- 
izing the company." 

Buntline' s reply was a very cyclone of surprise. Said 
he: 

"I haven't "written the drama yet, neither have I en- 
gaged any company, but there are plenty of unemployed 
theatrical people in town who would be glad of an en- 
gagement." 

"Why, you astonish me. No company nor drama, 
and only four days to write a play, engage a company, 
study the parts, rehearse, and get out the show bills. I 
guess we will not go any further with our arrangements , 
and the contract between you and me may be considered 
off." 

This was the way Nixon received Buntline' s admissions 
and declarations. 



368 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

But not iii the least dismayed, Buntline replied : 

"All right. I believe the theater is not engaged for 
next week, so what rent will you charge me for the house 
for six nights ? ' ' 

" Six hundred dollars." 

"All right, again, I'll take it," was Buntline's re- 
sponse. 

Having made this engagement for the theater, Buntline 
invited Bill and Jack over to his hotel, where a supply 
of pens, ink and paper was at once ordered, and three 
copyists engaged to record his dictations. 

"Now I've got it, boys," exclaimed Buntline; "the 
play shall bear the title, * Scouts of the Plains.' " 

This appeared good, and with this the inspiration 
seemed to possess him, for he dictated the parts with 
such rapidity that in three hours' time the narrative was 
completed, and only required proper division to be given 
into the hands of the performers. Bill's and Jack's parts 
were first copied off and given them by Buntline, with 
the remark : 

"Now, boys, I want you to pitch right in and don't 
leave this room until you are letter perfect ; in the mean- 
time I'll go out, engage the company, order the bills and 
advertising, and get everything in readiness. Upon my 
return I'll hear you rehearse and help you on the de- 
livery." 

. With this he shot out of the room, fairly running over 
with the business in hand, and did not return until late 
in the evening. 

After Buntline' s departure the two scouts abstractedly 
looked at the numerous lines that had been left for them 
to memorize, and then each turned at the same time to 
eye the other. Bill was tho first to speak : 

"Jerusalem ! Jack, this is worse than a village of hos- 
tile8. How are you on the commit?" 



LITE OF BUFFALO BILL. 3(39 

" Why, Bill, you know I never did have sense enough 
to remember anything but a bull-whacker's speech or an 
Indian' s war-whoop . ' ' 

" Well," answered Bill, "by close calculation I've de- 
cided that I could muster about two lines and a whoop in 
two years, and at this rate I might catch onto the whole 
piece in about three life times." 

" Then don't despair," replied Jack, " for that beats 
me as far as McCarthy's flight beat that little party of 
Pawnees you told me about some days ago. Fact is, I'm 
in doubt about remembering my stage name, and I 
couldn't if Buntline hadn't considerately let me wear my 
old title." 

Finding it impossible to bring themselves down to solid 
work, they made the most of the situation and spent the 
day in spinning yarns. When Buntline came bustling in 
during the afternoon he said : 

"Well, boys, how are you getting along with your 
parts?" 

"Oh, the parts are all right, only they don't like us 
very well. I guess, Ned, we will have" to foreclose on 
the study ; our health might give way if we continued," 
replied Bill. 

" You must not get discouraged, boys," said Buntline, 
" for besides the incentive you have in the golden reward 
that awaits your efforts, remember that I have assumed 
a large responsibility and therefore none of us can afford 
to fail." 

This had the effect to brace up the despondent scouts 
and they consented to recite some of their parts from the 
manuscript, but in this they made such a miserable failure 
that even Buntline was to some extent discouraged. But 
he was as patient as he was versatile, and by hard work 
the training at length began to tell. After drilling for 



370 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

two days, Bill and Jack met the other members of the 
company at a general rehearsal, and things began to grow 
smooth, although to save their lives the scouts could not 
avoid a stiffness and apparent want of confidence in them- 
selves which seriously interfered with the rendering of 
their parts. 

Monday night came soon enough — too soon for the 
scouts — and at seven o'clock Bill and Jack went over to 
the theatre with the faces of chief mourners in a funeral 
procession. They repaired at once to the dressing room, 
where their buckskin suits — stage-dress — were adjusted, 
and when prepared they took a peep through the curtain, 
when they were horrified as well as delighted to see a 
packed house, with standing room at a premium. 

Bill's first thought after this sight was of his feelings 
when standing before a large audience in the Old Bowery 
theatre ; his knees knocked together like the palsy of old 
age, and when the curtain rang up and his appearance had 
to be made a more scared man actually, positively and liter- 
ally, never lived than Buffalo Bill. 

Buntline was cast in the play, and but for his encour- 
aging presence and sustaining expedients, both Bill and 
Jack would certainly have dropped out of sheer stage- 
fright. 

The audience, of course, greeted their appearance with 
vociferous cheers, and when the noisy ovation subsided 
Bill had lost the trail completely, and could not remem- 
ber a single word of his part. But Buntline saw his em- 
barrassment and came to the rescue by speaking foreign 
to the. text : 

"Where have you been, Bill? What has detained you 
so long?" 

At tVis juncture fortune knocked at Bill's door, for 
siring Mr. Mulligan, with whom he had hunted only a 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 371 

few weeks before, sitting in a private box of the theatre, 
surrounded by several friends, he answered : 

"I've just been out on a hunt with Mr. Mulligan, and 
we got corraled by a party of hostiles." 

This answer fairly brought down the house, as Mulli- 
gan was one of the best known business men in Chicago. 

Both Bill and Buntline saw they had struck a fortunate 
cue, and that the only way out of their embarrassment 
was by following this colloquy. Buntline therefore quer- 
ried : 

" Is that so? well, tell us all about the hunt and your 
escape." 

Thereupon Bill, who is an excellent storyteller and 
knows just how much ornamentation to give his recitals 
concerning Indians, related at some length all the partic- 
ulars that a curious-loving audience could desire, and 
upon concluding the story there was an encore which 
shook the house like an explosion. 

Another good fortune came to Bill when he and Jack 
went on in the second act, for their services were required 
only in a desperate Indian battle which was fought out 
to the intense satisfaction of both the audience and com- 
batants. There were twenty supes dressed up like In- 
dians, and the way in which the two scouts slaughtered 
them with blank cartridges was absolutely marvelous, 
killing off the entire crowd without receiving a scratch 
themselves. 

On the following morning all the city papers cdntained 
lengthy accounts of the performance, and some of these 
were more interesting than the play itself. Of course 
Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack were not criticised as actors, 
but the drama was all split up the back, so to speak. 
Some asserted that if Buntline spent three hours "hi pre- 
paring that drama he must have been engaged in several 



372 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

other occupations at the same time. Ned Buntline was 
killed in the second act, and some of the papers expressed 
the idea that it was a great oversight in the performers 
that they did not kill him in the first. 

But in spite of the criticisms, the same play continued 
during each evening of the week, and at every perform- 
ance the house was crowded with an enthusiastic audience, 
and Buntline's venture proved a thorough financial suc- 
cess. 

At Mr. Nixon's solicitation he was taken in as a part- 
ner by Buntline, after the first week, and then the com- 
pany began to travel, visiting all the large cities and 
meeting everywhere with the same astonishing success 
which had met them at Chicago. The season closed in 
June, 1873, and after a distribution of profits, amounting 
to six thousand dollars each, Bill and Jack returned to the 
West for another big hunt. They had remained away 
from their familiar pastures so long that nothing ever 
gave them so much pleasure as the greeting of old scout- 
ing friends and a buffalo dash over the prairies again. 

In the fall they went to New York, where they reor- 
ganized the company for the season of 1873-74, engaging 
Wild Bill as one of the stars. This second season also 
proved successful, more so, financially, than the first, and 
when they closed, in May, 1874, they had money "to 
throw at the birds," as Bill declared, with fortune dog- 
ging their footsteps. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 373 



CHAPTER XX. 



Before leaving for the West, Bill went to New York 
on some special business, and while there was introduced 
to Thomas P. Medley, a very wealthy gentleman of Lon- 
don. Mr. Medley had just arrived in America for the 
express purpose of taking a big hunt on the plains, and 
the moment he touched New York his correspondents and 
friends there told him of Buffalo Bill's presence in the 
city. He immediately called on the scout at the Metro- 
politan Hotel, and disclosing the object of his visit, en- 
gaged his services as guide, at a salary of one thousand 
dollars a month. Before starting out on the hunt, Mr. 
Medley told Bill that he did not want to be treated as a 
guest or employer ; that he proposed doing all his own 
cooking while on the plains, kill his own game, and go 
hungry if he was so unfortunate as to secure none. 

Some men have excellent intentions, like the sound 
sleeper who promises, the evening before, to rise early in 
the morning, only to find his resolution destroyed by the 
indisposition of morning sleep. But Mr. Medley kept 
well his determination made amid the luxuries of a fine 
hotel. He actually killed and cooked his game, carried 
wood to build the fire and the water he needed. This he 
did solely to acquaint himself with life on the plains. 
He was a generous man, and besides being a good hunter 
proved himself a most agreeable companion. 

After finishing this hunt, which lasted about six weeks, 
Bill was engaged by Col. Mills, of the Third Cavalry, as 
guide to an expedition then preparing for a trip along 
Powder River, in the Big Horn country. The command 
was equipped at Rawlins, "Wyoming Territory, and from 
this point crossed the Rocky Mountains and established a 



374 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



supply camp at Independence Rock, on the Sweetwater, 
on the route over which Bill had ridden the pony express 
fifteen years before. It was here that California Joe 
joined the expedition, being engaged as scout by Bill, 
who knew how to estimate this old and valuable Indian 
fighter's services. 




After Scouting the country several days, the expedition 
surprised a band of Arrapahoes, under Lone Wolf, whom 
tiny drove back to the reservations. A few days after 
this event the command was ordered back to Rawlins, 



LIFK OF BUFFALO BILL. 375 

and Bill returned East to reorganize his theatrical com- 
pany for the approaching season. Having purchased 
property in Rochester, New York, during his tour of 
1873-74, which included a handsome residence, he now 
moved his family to that place, where they remained for 
several years and until Mrs. Cody's health, injuriously 
affected by that climate, admonished him to remove again 
to the West, his next settlement being at North Platte, 
Nebraska, in 1878, where he still resides. 

In the succeeding season, 1875-76, his combination was, 
for the fourth time, put on the road, playing everywhere 
with great profit and satisfaction. It was during this 
tour, however, that the shafts of sorrow struck his family 
most severely, making such wounds as time can hardly 
heal. 

While he- was performing with his company at Spring- 
field, Massachusetts, in April, 1876, a telegram was 
handed him announcing the dangerous illness of his little 
baby boy, Kit. His ambitions, heart and nature were so 
interwoven with the life of this most amiable and beau- 
tiful child that the shock completely unnerved him. 
Leaving another member of the troop to act his part, 
Bill immediately engaged a special car and hurried with 
all possible haste to Rochester. When he arrived, little 
Kit, who was being rapidly consumed by the fires of 
scarlet fever, retained barely enough consciousness to 
recognize his father, and putting his wan but loving little 
arms around his neck imprinted one affectionate kiss on 
his cheek, and then the spirit forsook its tenement — poor 
little Kit was dead. 

There were many kind friends present to put back the 
long curly hair of the little one, whose feet were now 
treading the golden sands ; many to tell of heaven's gain, 
and divide the grief of that stricken household, but none 



376 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

could close the bleeding wound in the hearts of the pros- 
trated parents. There were birds, and flowers, and sweet- 
scented breezes, and amid these they buried little Kit, in 
Mount Hope Cemetery, leaving at last the precious little 
mound of earth moistened with the libations of their 
tears. 

Very soon after this most distressing incident, Cody 
received several pressing requests, by telegraph, from 
Gen. Carr to return West and join the Fifth Cavalry 
again, as chief of scouts ; the Sioux war had just begun, 
and the whole north-west was panic stricken. Custer and 
Crook were operating in the Big Horn country, and the 
Fifth Cavalry had been ordered to scout the vicinity of 
the Black Hills. Buffalo Bill, so sorely stricken with 
grief, was anxious to plunge into some adventure that 
would excite him to forgetfulness of his affliction. 
Moved by these feelings, and enjoying under all circum- 
stances the thrilling experiences of Indian warfare, he 
at once decided to accept the position offered by Gen. 
Carr, and went directly to Cheyenne, where the Fifth 
Cavalry was outfitting for the expedition. 

Upon arriving at that place, Bill was met at the depot 
by Lieut. King, adjutant of the regiment, whom he ac- 
companied to the camp, where he was received with a 
genuine ovation from all the soldiers. On the following 
morning: the command started for Ft. Laramie, where it 
met Generals Sheridan, Forsyth and Frye, who were 
en route for Red Cloud Agency. 

Bill accompanied Sheridan to that post, where the neces- 
sary orders having been left, they returned to Laramie, 
and from there the expedition journeyed northward to the 
South Fork of Cheyenne river. Reaching the Cheyenne 
country at the foot of the Black Hills, several bands of 
predatory Indians were met and dispersed after a few 
slight skirmishes. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 377 

After operating in the Black Hills country for two 
weeks Gen. "Wesley Merritt superseded Gen. Carr in 
command of the Fifth Cavalry, and supposing the Indians 
had been driven out of that section, he ordered the regi- 
ment back to Ft. Laramie. While returning to that post 
word was brought to the command by a courier, of the 
Custer massacre on the Little Big Horn. With this 
news came an order directing Gen. Merritt to push on 
rapidly to Ft. Fetterman and join Gen. Crook, who had 
been ordered to the Big Horn country. 




Brevet Major-Gen. Geo. A. Custer. 

In this connection it is eminently proper to introduce a 
description of this, the most appalling holocaust that ever 
occurred on the plains ; an event so disastrous that time, 
infinite though it is, can never make generations forget 
the tale of how Custer and his heroic band gave up their 
lives, while fighting in the desolate country drained by 
the Little Big Horn. 

There are many circumstances connected with this ter- 
rible battle — primarily the causes leading thereto — which 
must be left to those who write the life of Gen. Custer 



378 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

in extenso, as my purpose is rather to relate adventure 
than explain personal grievances and mistakes. Inas- 
much as not a single soldier of Custer's command escaped 
to relate particulars of the dreadful massacre, many of 
the facts connected therewith are lost forever, as the 
Indians who participated in the slaughter can hardly be 
relied on to tell the whole truth concerning the battle. 
What I shall report here has been collected from a variety 
of sources, all from scouts and soldiers whose familiarity 
with the country and orders under which Gen. Cust< 't- 
was acting, the movements of his troops, position of the 
Indians, and mode of fighting, qualify them for forming 
a most reasonable opinion of how Custer met the foe, 
and how he struggled to his death. 

The Sioux Indians have ever been regarded as the most 
intractable of Northern tribes ; at one time their power 
was so great that they might have contested successfully 
with all the other tribes west of the Mississippi combined, 
and In addition to their superior numbers they are alto- 
gether better soldiers, brave, athletic and of marvelous 
endurance. 

When the Black Hills gold fever first broke out, in 
1874, a rush of miners into that country resulted in much 
trouble, as the Indians always regarded that region with 
jealous interest, and resisted all encroachments of white 
men. Instead of the Government adhering to the treaty 
of 1868 and restraining white men from going into the 

© DO 

Hills, Gen. Custer was scut out, in 1874, to intimidate 
the Sioux. The unrighteous spirit of this order the Gen- 
eral wisely disregarded, but proceeded to Prospect Valley, 
and from there he pushed on to the valley of the Little 
Missouri. Custer expected to find good grazing ground 
in this valley, suitable for a camp which he intended to 
pitch there for several days, and reconnoitre, but the 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 379 

Country was comparatively barren and the march was 
therefore continued to the Belle Fourche valley, where 
excellent grazing, water, and plenty of wood was found* 

Crossing the Fourche the expedition was now among 
the outlying ranges of the Hills, where a camp was made 
and some reconnoitering done ; but finding no Indians * 
Gen. Custer continued his march, skirting the Black Hills 
and passing through a country which he described as 
beautiful beyond description, abounding with a most lux- 
urious vegetation, cool, crystal streams, a profusion of 
gaudy, sweet smelling flowers, and plenty of game. 

Proceeding down this lovely valley, which he appropri- 
ately named Floral Park, an Indian camp fire, recently 
abandoned, was discovered, and fearing a collision unless 
pains were taken to prevent it, Custer halted and sent 
out his chief scout, Bloody Knife, with twenty friendly 
Indian allies to trail the departed Sioux. They had gone 
but a short distance when, as Custer himself relates:. 
"Two of Bloody Knife's young men came galloping back_ 
and informed me that they had discovered five Indian 
lodges a few miles down the valley, and that Bloody Knife, 
as directed, had concealed his party in a wooded ravine, 
where they awaited further orders. Taking E company 
with me, which was afterward reinforced by the remain- 
der of the scouts and Col. Hart's company, I proceeded 
to the ravine where Bloody Knife and his party lay con- 
cealed, and from the crest beyond obtained a full view of 
the five Indian lodges, about which a considerable num- 
ber of ponies were grazing. I was enabled to place my 
command still nearer to the lodges undiscovered. I then 
despatched Agard, the interpreter, with a flag of truce, 
accompanied by ten of our Sioux scouts, to acquaint the 
occupants of the lodges that we were friendly disposed 
and desired to communicate with them. To prevent 



380 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



either treachery or flight on their part, I galloped the re- 
maining portion of my advance and surrounded the lodges. 
This was accomplished almost before they were aware of 
our presence. I then entered the little village and shook 




hands with its occupants, assuring them, through the in- 
terpreter, that they had no cause to fear, as we were not 
there to molest them, etc." 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 881 

Finding there was no disposition on the part of Gen. 
Custer to harm them, the Indians despatched a courier to 
the principal village, requesting the warriors to be present 
at a council with the whites. This council was held on 
the following day, but though Custer dispensed coffee, 
sugar, bacon and other presents to the Indians, his advice 
to them regarding the occupation of their country by 
miners was treated with indifference, for which, he ob- 
serves in his official report, " I cannot blame the poor 
savages." 

During the summer of 1875 Gen. Crook made several 
trips into the Black Hills to drive out the miners and 
maintain the Government's faith, but while he made many 
arrests there was no punishment and the whole proceed- 
ing became farcical. In August of the same year Custer 
City was laid out and two weeks later it contained a pop- 
ulatian of six hundred souls. These Gen. Crook drove 
out, but as he marched from the place others swarmed 
in and the population was immediately renewed. 

It was this inability, or real indisposition, of the Gov- 
ernment to enforce the terms of the treaty of 1868 that 
led to the bitter war with Sitting Bull and which termina- 
ted so disastrously on the 25th of June, 1876. 

It is a notorious fact that the Sioux Indians, for four 
years immediately preceding the Custer massacre, were 
regularly supplied with the most improved fire-arms and 
ammunition by the agencies at Brule, Grand River, 
Standing Rock, Fort Berthold, Cheyenne and Fort Peck. 
Even during the campaign of 1876, in the months of 
May, June and July, just before and after Custer and his 
band of heroes rode down into the valley of death, these 
fighting Indians received eleven hundred and twenty 
AYinchester and Remington rifles, and 413,000 rounds of 
patent ammunition, besides large quantities of loose pow- 



382 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

der, lead and primers, while during the summer of 1875 
they received several thousand stand of arms and more 
than a million rounds of ammunition. With this gener- 
ous provision there is no cause for wonder that the Sioux 
were able to resist the Government and attract to their 
aid all the dissatisfied Cheyennes and other Indians in the 
Northwest. 

Besides a perfect fighting equipment, all the Indians 
recognized in Sitting Bull the elements of a great war- 
rior, one whose superior, perhaps, has never been known 
among any tribe ; he combined all the strategic cunning 
of Tecumseh, with the cruel, uncompromising hatred of 
Black Kettle, while his leadership was far superior to 
both. Having decided to precipitate a terrible war, he 
chose his position with consummate judgment, selecting 
a central vantage point surrounded by what is known as 
the "bad lands," and then kept his supply source open 
by an assumed friendship with the Canadian French. 
This he was the better able to accomplish, since some 
years before he had professed conversion to Christianity 
under the preaching of Father DeSmet and maintained 
a show of great friendship for the Canadians. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

War against the Sioux having been declared, brought 
about by the combined causes of Black Hill outrages and 
Sitting Bull's threatening attitude, it was decided to send 
out throe separate expeditions, one of which should move 
from the north, under Gen. Terry, from Fort Lincoln ; 
another from the east, under Gen. Gibbon, from Fort 



LITE OF BUFFALO BILL. 383 

Ellis, and another from the south, under Gen. Crook, 
from Fort Fetterman ; the movements were to be simul- 
taneous, and a junction was expected to be formed near 
the headwaters of the Yellowstone River. 

For some cause, which I will refrain from discussing, 
the commands did not start at the same time. Gen. 
Crook did not leave Fetterman until March 1st, with 
seven hundred men and forty days' supply. The com- 
mand was intrusted to Col. Reynolds, of the Third Cav- 
alry, accompanied by Gen. Crook, the department com- 
mander. 

Nothing was heard of this expedition until the 2 2d 
following, when Gen. Crook forwarded from Ft. Reno 
a brief account of his battle on Powder River. The 
result of this fight, which lasted five hours, was the de- 
struction of Crazy Horse's village of one hundred and 
five lodges. Or that is the way the dispatch read, though 
many assert that the battle resulted in little else than a 
series of remarkable blunders which suffered the Indians 
to make good their escape, losing only a small quantity 
of their property. 

One serious trouble arose out of the Powder River 
fight, which was found in an assertion made by Gen. 
Crook, or at least attributed to him, that his expedition 
had proved that instead of there being 15,000 or 20,- 
000 hostile Indians in the Black Hills and Big Horn coun- 
try, that the total number would not exceed 2,000. It 
was upon this estimation that the expeditions were pre- 
pared. 

The Terry column, which was commanded by Gen. 
Custer, consisted of twelve companies of the Seventh 
Cavahy, and three companies of the Sixth and Seven- 
teenth Infantry, with four Gatling guns, and a detach- 
ment of Indian scouts. This force comprised twenty- 



384 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

eight officers and seven hundred and forty-seven men, of 
the Seventh Cavalry , eight officers and one hundred and 
thirty-five men of the Sixth and Seventeenth Infantry, 
two officers and thirty-two men in charge of the Gatling 
battery, and forty-five enlisted Indian scouts , a grand 
total of thirty-eight officers and nine hundred and fifty- 
nme men, including scouts. 

The combined forces of Crook, Gibbon, Terry and 
Custer, did not exceed twenty-seven hundred men, while 
opposed to them were fully 17,000 Indians, all of whom 
were provided with the latest and most approved patterns 
of repeating rifles. 

On the 16th of June Gen. Crook started for the Rose- 
bud, on which stream it was reported that Sitting Bull 
and Crazy Horse were stationed ; about the same time a 
party of Crow Indians, who were operating with Gen. 
Crook, returned from a scout and reported that Gen. Gib- 
bon, who was on Tongue River, had been attacked by 
Sitting Bull, who had captured several horses. Crook 
pushed on rapidly toward the Rosebud, leaving his train 
behind and mounting his infantry on mules. What 
were deemed accurate reports, stated that Sitting Bull 
whs still on the Rosebud, only sixty miles from the 
point where Gen. Crook camped on the night of the 15th 
of June. The command traveled forty miles on the six- 
teenth, and when within twenty miles of the Sioux' 
principal position, instead of pushing on, Gen. Crook 
went into camp. 

The next morning he was much surprised at finding 
himself attacked by Sitting Ball, who swooped down on 
him with the first streaks of coming dawn, and a heavy 
battle followed. Gen. Crook, who had camped in a basin 
surrounded on all sides by high hills, soon found his posi- 
tion so dangerous that it must be changed at all hazards. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 385 

The advance was therefore sounded with Noj^es' battal- 
ion occupying a position on the right, Mills on the right 
centre, Chambers in the centre, and the Indian allies on 
the left. Mills and Noyes charged the enemy in magnifi- 
cent style, breaking the line and striking the rear. The 
fio'ht continued hot and furious until 2 p. m., when a gal- 
lant charge of Col. Royall, who was in reserve, supported 
by the Indian allies, caused the Sioux to draw off to their 
village, six miles distant, while Gen. Crook went into 
camp, where he remained inactive for two days. 

In the meantime, as the official report recites : "Gen- 
erals Terry and Gibbon communicated with each other 
June 1st, near the junction of the Tongue and Yellow- 
stone Rivers, and learned that a heavy force of Indians 
had concentrated on the opposite bank of the Yellow- 
stone, but eighteen miles distant. For fourteen days the 
Indian pickets had confronted Gibbon's videttes." 

Gen. Gibbon reported to Gen. Terry that the cavalry 
had thoroughly scouted the Yellowstone as far as the 
mouth of the Big Horn, and no Indians had crossed it. 
It was now certain that they were not prepared for them, 
and on the Powder, Tongue, Rosebud, Little Horn or Big 
Horn Rivers, Gen. Terry at once commenced feeling for 
them. 

Major Reno, of the Seventh Cavalry, with six compa- 
nies of that regiment, was sent up Powder River one 
hundred and fifty miles, to the mouth of Little Powder 
to look for the Indians, and, if possible, to communi- 
cate with Gen. Crook. He reached the mouth of the 
Little Powder in five days, but saw no Indians, and could 
hear nothing of Crook. As he returned, he found on the 
Rosebud a very large Indian trail, about nine days old, 
and followed it a short distance, when he turned about up 
Tongue River, and reported to Gen. Terry what hi? had 



386 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

seen. It was now known that no Indians were on either 
Tongueor Powder Rivers, and the net had narrowed down 
to Rosebud, Little Horn or Big Horn Rivers. 

Gen. Terry, who had been waiting with Custer and the 
steamer Far West, at the mouth of Tongue River, for 
Reno's report, as soon as he heard it, ordered Custer to 
march up the south bank to a point opposite Gen. Gib- 
bon, who was encamped on the north bank of the Yel- 
lowstone. Terry, on board the steamer Far West, pushed 
up the Yellowstone, keeping abreast of Gen. Custer's 
column. 

Gen. Gibbon was found in camp, quietly awaiting de- 
velopments. A consultation was had with Gens. Gibbon 
and Custer, and then Gen. Terry definitely fixed upon 
the plan of action. It was believed the Indians were on 
the head of the Rosebud, or over on the Little Horn, a 
dividing ridge only fifteen miles wide separating the two 
streams. It was announced by Gen. Terry that Gen. 
Custer's column "would strike the blow."' 

At the time a junction was formed between Gibbon 
and Terry, Gen. Crook was about one hundred miles 
from them, while Sitting Bull's forces were between th e 
commands. Crook, after his battle, fell back to the 
head of Tongue River. The Powder, Tongue, Rosebud 
and Big Horn Rivers all flow northwest, and empty into 
the Yellowstone ; as Sitting Bull was between the head- 
waters of the Rosebud and Big Horn, the main tributary 
of the latter being known as the Little Big Horn, with 
this knowledge of the topography of the country, it is 
easy to definitely locate Sitting Bull and his forces. 

Having now ascertained the position of the enemy, or 
reasoned oul the probable position, Gen. Terry sent a 
dispatch to (Jen. Sheridan, as follows ; 

" No Indians have been met with as yet, but traces of 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 387 

a large and recent camp have been discovered twenty or 
thirty miles up the Rosebud. Gibbon's column will 
move this morning on the north side of the Yellowstone, 
for the mouth of the Big Horn, where it will be ferried 
across by the supply steamer, and whence it will proceed 
to the mouth of the Little Horn, and so on. Custer will 
go up the Rosebud to-morrow with his whole regiment, 
and thence to the headwaters of the Little Horn, thence 
down that stream." 

Following this report came an order, signed bj^ E. W. 
Smith, Captain of the Eighteenth Infantry, Acting As- 
sistant Adjutant General, directing Gen. Custer to follow 
the Indian trail discovered, pushing the Indians from one 
side, while Gen. Gibbon pursued them from an opposite 
direction. As no instructions were given as to the rate 
each division should travel, Custer, noted for his quick, 
energetic movements, made ninety miles the first three 
days, and, discovering the Indians in large numbers, di- 
vided his command into three divisions, one of which he 
placed under Major Reno, another under Major Benteen, 
and led the other himself. 

As Custer made a detour to enter the village, Reno 
struck a large body of Indians, Avho, after retreating 
nearly three miles, turned on the troops and ran them 
pell mell across Grassy Creek into the woods. Reno 
overestimated the strength of his enemies and thought he 
was being surrounded. Benteen came up to the support 
of Reno, but he too took fright and got out of his posi- 
tion without striking the enemy. 

While Reno and Benteen were trying to keep open a 
way for their retreat, Custer charged on the village, first 
sending a courier, Trumpeter Martin, to Reno and Ben- 
teen with the following dispatch : " Big village ; be quick ; 
send on the packs." This order was too plain to be mis- 



388 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

construed. It clearly meant that he had discovered the 
village, which he intended attacking at once ; to hurry for- 
ward to his support and bring up the packs, ambulances, 
etc. But instead of obeying orders, Reno and Benteen 
stood aloof, fearful lest they should endanger their posi- 
tion, while the brave Custer and his squad of noble he- 
roes rushed down like a terrible avalanche upon the In- 
dian village. In a moment, fateful incident, the Indians 
came swarming about that heroic band until the very 
earth seemed to open and let loose the elements of vol- 
canic fury, and the fiends of Erebus, blazing with the hot 
sulphur of their impious dominion. Down from the 
hillsides, up through the valleys, that dreadful torrent of 
Indian cruelty and massacre poured around the little 
squad to swallow it up with one grand swoop of fire. 
But Custer was there at the head, like Spartacus fighting 
the legions about him, tall, graceful, brave as a lion at 
bay, and with thunderbolts in his hands. His brave fol- 
lowers formed a hollow square, and met the rush, and 
roar, and fury of the demons. Bravely they breasted 
that battle shock, bravely stood up and faced the leaden 
hail, nor quailed when looking into the blazing muzzles of 
five thousand deadly rifles. 

Brushing away the powder grimes that had settled in 
his face, Custer looked over the boiling sea of fury 
around him, peering through the smoke for some signs of 
Reno and Benteen, but, seeing none and thinking of the 
aid which must soon come, with cheering words to his 
comrades, he renewed the battle, fighting still like a Her- 
cules and piling heaps of victims around his very feet. 

Hour after hour passed and yet no friendly sign of Re- 
no's coming ; nothing to be seen saving the battle smoke, 
streaks of fire splitting through the misty clouds, blood 
flowing in rivulets under tramping feet, dying comrades. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 3 ( Jl 

and Indians swarming about him, rending the air with 
their demoniacal "hi-yi-yip-yah, — yah-hi-yah." 

The fight continued with unabated fury until late in 
the afternoon ; men had sunk down beside their gallant 
leader until there was but a handful left, only a dozen, 
bleeding from many wounds, and hot carbines in their 
stiffening bauds. The day is almost done, when, look ! 
heaven now defend him ! the charm of his life is broken, 
for Custer has fallen ; a bullet cleaves a pathway through 
his side, and as he falters another strikes his noble 
breast. Like a strong oak stricken by the lightning' s bolt, 
shivering the mighty trunk and bending its withering 
branches down close to the earth, so fell Custer; but like 
the reacting branches, he rises partly up again, and 
striking out like a fatally wounded giant lays three more 
Indians dead and breaks his mighty sword on the musket 
of a fourth; then, with useless blade and empty pistol 
falls back the victim of a dozen wounds. He is the last 
to succumb to death, and dies, too, with the glory of ac- 
complished duty in his conscience and the benediction of 
a grateful country on his head. 

"So sleeps the brave who sank to rest, 
By all his country's wishes blessed." 
The place where fell these noblest of God's heroes is 
sacred ground, and though it be the Golgotha of a na- 
tion's mistakes it is bathed with precious blood, rich with 
the germs of heroic inheritance. 

11 It was the last llDation Liberty draws 
From the hearts that break and bleed in her cause." 

I have avoided attaching blame to any one, using only 
the facts that have been furnished me of how Custer 
came to attack the Sioux village and how and why he 
died. 

When the news of the terrible massacre was learned, 



392 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



soldiers everywhere made a pilgrimage to the sacred 
place, and friendly hands reared a monument on that 
distant spot, commemorative of the heroism of Custer 




and his men; collected together all the bones and relics 
of the battle and piled them up in pyramidal form, where 
they stand in sunshine and in storm, overlooking the 



LIFE OIT BUFFALO BILL. 393 

Little Big Horn. The engraving herewith given is from 
a photograph taken while a heavy snow-storm was pre- 
vailing. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



After the massacre of Custer's little band, there was 
great activity in military movements in the Northwest, 
mid an almost consuming desire to give the Sioux and 
Cheyennes a touch of wholesale retaliation. With the 
news of the disaster came a report from Col. Santon, of 
the Fifth Cavalry, informing Gen. Merritt that eight hun- 
dred Cheyenne warriors had left the Red Cloud Agency 
to join Sitting Bull on the Big Horn, and instructing him 
to join Gen. Crook at Ft. Fetterman. 

Instead of following the strict letter of the order, Gen- 
Merritt, with Buffalo Bill as his chief of scouts, con- 
cluded to intercept the Cheyennes, a most commendable 
purpose, which happily justified his good judgment. 

Selecting five hundred of his best men and horses, 
Gen. Merritt made a forced march toward War Bonnet 
Creek, which he knew the Indians must cross, and at a 
point, too, which he estimated it would be easy to reach 
in advance of them. 

On July 17th the command reached the creek, and 
Buffalo Bill was sent out to discover if the Cheyennes 
had yet effected a crossing, but finding no trail he con- 
tinued scouting for some distance, and was rewarded by 
seeing a large body of Indians approaching from the 
south. Bill rode rapidly back to camp to acquaint Gen. 
Merritt of his discovery, whereupon the cavalry was 
ordered to mount and hold themselves in readiness, while 



394 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Bill and the General should ride out on a tour of obser- 
vation. Selecting a high knoll, by the use of field glasses, 
the Cheyennes were plainly seen riding directly toward 
Gen. Merritt's camp. Presently a party of fifteen Indi- 
ans were observed to leave the main body and ride at a 
furious pace northward, and scanning the surroundings 
critically to ascertain the cause, Bill saw two mounted 
soldiers, evidently couriers, trying to reach Gen. Merritt's 
camp. In order not to apprise the Indians of the pres- 
ence of the regiment, Bill suggested to the General the 
advisability of waiting until the couriers should come near 
the command, when, having led the fifteen Indians some 
distance from the main party, he would take the other 
scouts and cut the squad off so as to insure their capture. 

Gen. Merritt approving of Bill's idea, the latter rode 
back to camp, selected fifteen men and hurried to a place 
of concealment, where he waited for the pursuers. It 
was but a few moments until the couriers dashed by with 
the Indians not more than two hundred yards in the rear. 
Bill and his men leaped out of their ambush and sent a 
rattling fire after the Indians, three of whom were killed ; 
the rest turned and ran back to the main party, which 
had halted upon hearing the rapid firing. 

After stopping for a few moments the Cheyennes re- 
newed their march, thinking they were opposed by a 
small body that would offer no particular resistance. 
Another advance party of twenty Indians was sent out 
from the main body, and as they approached near, Bill 
and his men charged them, but the Indians, seeing their 
numbers were superior, made a stand, and a lively fight 
ensued. Each side then drew off, and while they stood 
studying their opportunities, one of the Indians, richly 
dressed in a chief's ornamentation, large war bonnet, 
capped with eagle's feathers, and carrying a Winchester 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 395 

rifle, rode out from his squad several rods, and made the 
following speech, addressing Buffalo Bill, whom he had 
seen before, and heard much of. 

"Me know you, Pa-he-has-ka (the Indian for "long 
hair' ' ) , you great chief, kill many Indians ; me great chief, 
kill many pale faces ; come on now fight me." 

Here was a direct challenge, and Buffalo Bill was not 
the man to decline it. He would not have shrunk from 
fighting a duel with any living man ; so he shouted back 
to the chief : 

"I'll fight you ; come on ; let Indians and white men 
stand off and see the Red Chief and Long Hair fight with 
rifles." 

This was a genuine novelty, and of such an exciting 
nature that the troops advanced to a position command- 
ing a view of the battle ground, while the Indians rode 
up also sufficiently close to witness the combat. 

When everything was in readiness, Bill advanced on 
horseback about fifty yards toward his opponent, and then 
the two started toward each other on a dead ruu. They 
were scarcely thirty yards apart when both their rifles 
were discharged simultaneously. The Indian's horse fell 
dead, having been struck by the bullet from Bill's rifle, 
and at the same time thelatter's horse stepped into a hole 
and tumbled over ; thus they were both dismounted. 
Bill was not hurt by the fall, and springing to his feet, 
he faced his recovered antagonist, now not more than 
twenty paces distant. Again the two fired almost simul- 
taneously, but the Indian missed, while Bill's aim was 
good, his bullet planting itself in the chief's breast. As 
the Indian reeled and fell Bill leaped on him and in the 
next instant had thrust his bowie-knife into the warrior's 
heart. With a skillful movement, acquired only after long 
practice, Bill tore the war-bonnet off his victim's head and 



396 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

then scalped him in the most gentlemanly and dexterous 
manner. Then holding up the bonnet and reeking cap- 
sheaf, he exclaimed : 

' ' The first scalp for Custer!' ' 

Following this event, which was a display of genuine 
pluck very few men possess, the main body of Cheyennen 
charged down on Bill and would have killed him had not 
the cavalry been so near that they intercepted the savages- 
before they could reach him. 

Finding that the Indians could not now be ambushed,. 
Gen. Merritt ordered his troops to charge, and a running- 
fight ensued for a distance of thirty miles, the Cheyennes 
retreating toward Red Cloud Agency, to which point the 
pursuit was continued. Upon arriving at the agency, a 
thousand dissatisfied Indians were found discussing the 
advisability of joining Sitting Bull, but they offered no 
hostility to the Fifth Cavalry, which stood ready to fight 
the entire Cheyenne tribe. 

At Red Cloud Bill learned that the name of his victim 
in the rifle duel was Yellow Hand, son of Cut Nose, one 
of the leading Cheyenne chiefs. Upon hearing of the 
death of his son, this chief sent a white interpreter to 
Buffalo Bill, offering four mules for the return of Yellow 
Hand's scalp, ornaments, gun, pistols and knife, which 
Bill had captured, but the messenger had to return with- 
out the trophies. 

Leaving Red Cloud Agency, Gen. Merritt started to 
join Gen. Crook, who was encamped near Cloud Peak, 
in the Big Horn Mountains. A junction was made on 
the third of August at Goose Creek, and after remaining 
in camp one day the united expedition set out for Tongue 
River, leaving their trains behind them. Reaching that 
point, they marched on to the Rosebud, where a large 
Indian trail, indicating seven thousand warriors, was 




Buffalo bills duel with yellow hand 



LIFE Or BUFFALO BILL. 399 

struck, which the command followed for several miles, 
but as the trail was four days old, and the Indians were 
traveling very rapidly, the pursuit was abandoned for 
the day. 

While on the Rosebud the command was met by Capt. 
Jack Crawford, whose familiar title is "Capt. Jack, the 
Poet Scout of the Black Hills." Jack brought dis- 
patches to Gen. Crook from Ft. Fetterman, distant three 
hundred miles, through a country as full of hair-lifting 
Indians as Italy is of beggars, but he got through all 
right, without losing a hair. 

After remaining in camp one night, the command 
pushed on again, following the large trail down the Rose- 
bud for five days, but no Indians were seen. A cloud of 
dust and a large party of horsemen, however, caused a 
rapid preparation for battle, but when each side was 
ready for action the discovery was made that the ap- 
proaching party was Gen. Terry's command and some 
friendly Nez Perces and Snakes. 

When the two armies came together Col. Weir recog- 
nized Buffalo Bill, and at once pulled off his hat and 
shouted : 

"Here's Buffalo Bill. God bless him! give him a 
cheer!" and the whole command responded in the 
heartiest manner. 

After a lengthy council between Generals Terry and 
Crook, the Fifth Infantry was ordered to return by forced 
march to the Yellowstone, and from there proceed by 
boat down to the mouth of Powder river, that they might 
intercept any Indians attempting to cross at that point. 

The main consolidated command continued to follow 
the large trail for several days, but seeing no Indians and 
running short of supplies, a return was made to the con- 
fluence of the Powder and Yellowstone rivers, where a 

permanent camp was established. 
24 



400 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

While lying in camp on the Yellowstone, Bill and a 
half-breed named Louis Richard were ordered to accom- 
pany Gen. Mills on a scouting expedition down the Yel- 
lowstone on the steamer Far West. This novel idea em- 
anated from Gen. Terry, who thought that a steamboat 
was a good thing to beat up an Indian trail at the cross- 
ings. Four companies were taken on board for both de- 
fensive and offensive purposes. 

When the boat started down the river Bill and Richard 
took up a position on top of the pilot house, from which 
point of observation a large scope of country lay before 
their view. But the boat proceeded as far as Glendive 
Creek without any Indians being seen by the " outlook- 
ers." At this point Col. Rice, in charge of one company 
of the Fifth Infantry, was met, who, the day previous, 
had fought a party of Indians with a Rodman cannon and 
killed three of their number. 

Having to remain over night at Glendive Creek, Gen. 
Mills desired to communicate with Gen. Terry, and, of 
course, selected Bill to carry the message, as the route 
was the roughest as well as the most dangerous that a 
man ever traveled over. But Bill performed the duty 
without a word of complaint, and during the night rode 
seventy-five miles through the bad lands, reaching Gen. 
Terry's Gamp at daylight next morning. 

The bad lands, so called because no worse designation 
could be thought of at the time by the party who named 
them, are a barren waste of country, over which it is most 
dangerous to travel, owing to the numerous broad fissures 
which run zig-zag and in every direction, like the cracks 
which appear in the basins of recently dried up ponds in 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 401 

summer time ; the only difference being that in the bad 
lands these cracks are from two to six inches wide, some 
even much wider, and extending to a depth of many 
feet. In riding through such a country, especially during 
the night, the dangers may be readily understood. In 
the trip made by Buffalo Bill, he was thrown from his. 
horse several times, and upon reaching Gen. Terry's 
camp there were bruises all over his body. 

As it now appeared certain that Sitting Bull had started 
for the British possessions, and that the prospects for 
further fighting were decidedly indefinite, Bill concluded 
to start east again for the purpose of making prepara- 
tions for the approaching theatrical season. He had con- 
ceived the idea that a drama, with all its situations based 
upon the Sioux war, would form a very successful enter- 
prise, and was determined to try the experiment. Ac- 
cordingly, taking his leave of Generals Terry and Crook, 
who were then packing up to start out on the old Indian 
trail on Powder River, he took the down-going steamer 
on the Yellowstone for Ft. Beauford ; but after proceed- 
ing twenty miles, another steamer was met, coming up 
the river, having on board Gen. Whistler, with a body of 
soldiers who were en route to join Gen. Crook. The two 
boats landed together, and among the first persons Bill 
met among the passengers, was Texas Jack, who had been 
employed as dispatch carrier for the New York Herald. 

Gen. Whistler interviewed Bill regarding the campaign, 
and learning that Crook and Terry had left the camp at 
the mouth of Powder River, he begged of Bill to carry 
some dispatches which he had from Gen. Sheridan to 
Gen. Terry. Being now on his journey to the East, Bill 
tried to avoid making the trip, but upon learning that no 
other person with Gen. Whistler would perform the duty, 
he consented, and that morning, mounted on the Gener- 



402 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

al's fine thoroughbred, he started out to overtake Gen- 
Terry, which he accomplished before dark. 

After Bill had taken lunch, Gen. Terry requested him 
to carry a message back to Gen. Whistler. This duty he 
gladly performed, as it was over the route he would have 
to take anyhow, and at one o'clock in the morning Bill 
arrived at the boat. He was astounded, upon delivering 
the message, to hear the following address from Gen. 
Whistler : 

" Mr. Cody, immediately after your departure yester- 
day morning, a considerable body of Indians made their 
appearance in the vicinity, and have been skirmishing 
around the boat ever since. As my force here is insig- 
nificant, I am very anxious to communicate again with 
Generals Terry and Crook. I tried in vain, all day yes- 
terday, to induce some one to carry my message, and 
while I feel that it is asking too much of you, really, the 
matter is of so much importance that, as a last resort, I 
am compelled to ask you to take my dispatch. I'll give 
you any horse you want, and see that you are well paid 
for the service." 

"Never mind the pay, General; if your message is 
ready I will start back again," was Bill's answer. 

At two o'clock in the morning the brave scout set out 
on his ret uin to Gen. Terry, regardless of the cordon of 
Indians that surrounded the boat. His woods-craft ena- 
bled him to pass through the lines unobserved, and in 
four hours from the time of leaving the boat, he dashed 
into Gen. Terry's camp just as the command was on the 
point of moving. After leading Gen. Whistler's mes- 
sage, Terry held a council with Crook, which resulted in 
the latter continuing on the trail, while Terry turned 
back to the Yellow -tone, which he crossed on boats, and 
then pushed his forces in the direction of the Dry Fork 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 403 

of the Missouri, Bill acting as guide at Gen. Terry's 
urgent request. The command marched for three days, 
until they reached the buffalo range, where numerous 
fresh signs of Indians, who had evidently been hunting, 
were discovered. 

At this point Gen. Terry asked Bill to carry a dis- 
patch to Col. Rice, who was still in camp at Glendive 
Creek, eighty miles distant. Night had already set in, 
and with it came a drizzling rain and a terrible wind- 
storm. Notwithstanding the darkness, and the further 
fact that Bill had never before set foot in that section of 
country, he set out at ten o'clock and traveled as best he 
could until morning, having made about thirty-five miles. 
As the country was full of predatory bands of Indians, 
he selected a place affording excellent concealment, 
with the intention of remaining there until night, as to 
have attempted a passage of the prairies during daylight 
on a poor horse, such as he was riding, would have been 
suicidal. 

After eating a breakfast of bacon and crackers, he lay 
down for a sleep, but an hour or more afterward he was 
awakened by a rumbling noise, and crawling to the 
edge of the bluff he was on^ he looked out over the prai- 
rie below and saw a large hunting party of Indians chas- 
ing buffaloes, which they were killing and packing on 
their ponies. This they continued for fully two hours, 
and when their meat was secured they started off in the 
direction which Bill must travel to reach Glendive Creek. 
It was pretty certain that the camp of the Indians was 
somewhere along his route, but Bill never hesitated on 
that account to continue his journey. 

When the shades of night had deepened, he mounted 
again and set out, and by making a large semi-circle he 
avoided the Indians and reached Col. Rice at daylight 



404 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

the following morning. After delivering Gen. Terry's 
message Bill bade adieu to Col. Rice, and again embark- 
ing on the Far West, he proceeded down the Yellowstone 
to Bismarck, where he took passage by rail to Rochester, 
New York. 

After meeting his family, he began preparations for 
his next theatrical tour, by employing a gentleman to write 
a drama for him which would introduce the striking situ- 
ations of the Sioux war. The play was soon prepared, and 
was in five acts, nearly all of which were replete with mimic 
battles and scalping picnics. The performance invaria- 
bly filled the house and brought down the galleries, so 
that the season proved successful even beyond anticipa- 
tion. 

While in New York, Bill had a novel bridle made, the 
like of which was never before seen. In all his Indian 
fights he had made it a point to preserve the hair and 
scalps of all his victims (and they were hundreds), and 
with curious impulse he had a bridle made of the hair 
thus preserved ; it was most deftly worked by a skillful 
hair artist, while the bit, buckles and side stars were of 
bullion silver handsomely engraved. The whole, when 
completed, was a master-piece of workmanship, and such 
a novelty, besides, that August Belmont offered Bill one 
thousand dollars for it. But this offer was refused, as 
the bridle had been made for a special pm-pose — for 
presentation to Miss Emma Lake, the world's famous 
equestrienne. It was accordingly given to this admirable 
little lady, who has exhibited the bridle in nearly all the 
leading cities of America. 

During the season of 1876-77, Bill visited all the East- 
ern cities, and then made a tour of California, where he 
met with unexampled success. Upon his return, he and 
Major North located a ranche on the South Fork of the 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 405 

Dismal River, in Nebraska, upon which they placed a 
large herd of cattle, the marking and branding of which 
occupied him the entire summer. In the following fall 
Bill visited Red Cloud Agency, where he engaged a party 
of Sioux Indians to accompany him on his theatrical tour 
of 1877-78. He then returned with these to Rochester, 
where., placing his eldest daughter, Arta, at a young 
ladies' seminary, Mrs. Cody and little Ora traveled with 
him during the season. 

During this tour Bill introduced a new drama, the inci- 
dents of which were founded on the Mountain Meadows 
Massacre, entitled: "May Cody: or, Lost and Won." 
This season was the most profitable of any he had en- 
joyed up to that time, and at its close he removed from 
Rochester to North Platte, Nebraska, where he is now 
living. 

Since 1878 Bill has continued in the role of profes- 
sional actor, introducing to the aniusement-loving public 
for three consecutive seasons his new and best play, writ- 
ten by Col. Prentiss Ingraham, entitled: "The Knight 
of the Plains ; or, Buffalo Bill's Best Trail." How suc- 
cessful he has been may be estimated by the fact that 
during the season of 1880-81 his net profits from the 
stage aggregated forty-eight thousand dollars. 

During the season of 1880-81 an incident occurred 
which illustrates Buffalo Bill's wonderful accuracy of 
aim and goes far to prove the assertion that since the 
death of Wild Bill he is the champion rifle and pistol 
shot of the world, and no one is likely to ever wrest the 
title of champion from him. 

The incident referred to may be recorded as follows : 
During September, 1880, Bill was performing at Pope's 
theater in St. Louis, having with his company the cel- 
ebrated marksman Ira Paine, whose exhibitions of rifle 



40(3 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

and pistol shooting have been witnessed with delight by 
thousands of people in various cities of the United States. 

One morning, as a number of Bill's and Paine's friends, 
among others Capt. D. L. Payne, the scout, and Dr. 
Voerster, ex-Coroner of St. Louis, were engaged in 
friendly conversation, a dispute arose respecting the 
relative abilities, as marksmen, of Bill and Ira Paine. 
As a result of the dispute a contest was arranged to take 
place the following afternoon at the Fair Grounds, a 
wager being laid of a basket of champagne and a supper 
of oysters, Capt. Payne backing Bill and Ira Paine bet- 
ting on himself. The shooting was to consist of rifle 
and pistol practice, steady and snap shots, at a mark and 
flying glass balls. 

The terms and place having been agreed upon, the 
party, reinforced by several other friends, repaired to the 
Fair Grounds, where the contest took place. Buffalo 
Bill won with such ease in all the variety of shots, that 
comparison in the contest would be ridiculous. Out of 
one hundred glass balls thrown from a distance of 
forty yards, Bill broke ninety-eight and chipped another, 
making ninety-nine out of a possible hundred. A dis- 
pute arose over the one ball that was chipped, some con- 
tending that it was missed, while Capt. Payne maintained 
that it was struck, and to prove his assertion he walked 
out on the field, and picking up the ball, was returning 
with it to the crowd, when Bill shouted to him : 

" Hold on, Payne ; let me cut the ashes off your cigar 
without touching the fire." 

Payne stopped, and turning his face sideways, per- 
mitted Bill to tire. The bullet struck the ashes, leaving 
the lire exposed. 

"Now," said Bill, "I'll cut off the tip end of the 
cigar, so that you will only lose the fire." 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 



407 



td 




408 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Payne held himself stiff and perfectly steady while Bill 
performed the second feat successfully. These wonder- 
ful exhibitions of skill elicited great applause, as though 
they were made with a Winchester rifle. Payne started 
toward the crowd, but when within twenty yards, 
Bill again called out to him : 

"Stop again, Payne, and I'll see if I can't cut the 
cigar out of your mouth with this pistol without touching 
your lips." 

Payne, fearing nothing, at once turned sideways again, 
but the crowd thought the danger of such a shot was too 
great, and begged Bill not to try it. But Payne said 
with some warmth : 

"Let him shoot ; Buffalo Bill always hits what he aims 
at," 

Dr. Voerster, who is an excellent shot himself, still 
protested, but when he found that there was a determi- 
nation to attempt the feat, he walked out to Payne, and 
placing his hands on either side of the scout's head, stead- 
ied him while Bill shot. At the crack of the pistol Payne 
turned about and exhibited a little stump of his cigar, the 
part he held between his teeth. The bullet had 
struck under his moustache and cut off the cigar within 
less than a quarter of an inch off his lips. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 409 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

CONCLUSION. 

Buffalo Bill is one of the few famous scouts who 
has justly won the renown which encircles his name. His 
exploits have been so numerous, involving a display of 
such extraordinary daring and magnificent nerve that 
language cannot exaggerate them. Gen. Sheridan makes 
bold to assert that Buffalo Bill has Killed more Indians 
than any white man that ever lived. It would be no 
credit to the daring scout if these Indians had fallen with- 
out justification, but since they were the victims of legit- 
imate war, and were slain in the performance of a sworn 
duty, he may properly wear the laurels and deserve the 
plaudits of civilization whose effective instrument he has 
ever been. 

Before closing this narrative of his wonderful life, I 
cannot resist the temptation to include a few words re- 
specting his social relations, which are so amiable that no 
man can possibly be happier than he. 

In May, the present year (1881), I received an invita- 
tion from Buffalo Bill to visit him, which I accepted with 
much pleasure, as it afforded me the opportunity I so 
much desired for acquainting myself with his personal pe- 
culiarities and social surroundings. Upon returning from 
that visit I prepared a correspondence for the "American 
Traveler's Journal" recounting my exceedingly pleasant 
experiences with the celebrated scout and his family, ex- 
tracts from which I will here reproduce for the purpose 
of giving the reader an idea of his entertaining character, 
and the interesting nature of his surroundings : 

I met Mr. Cody, by arrangement, in Omaha on the 5th, 



410 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

where I was received with that generous cordiality for 
which he is distinguished, and remained with him in that 
city during two days, in order to attend an entertain- 
ment at Brownell Seminary, at which institution his 
bcautif ul daughter, Arta, is a student. En passant I will 
be excused for remarking that Miss Arta, though but 
fourteen years of age, is one of the most charming and 
interesting young ladies it has been my fortune to meet. 
She is accomplished both in music and rudimentary litera- 
ture, being a thorough student, and free from the vanity 
which so frequently turns the heads of much less handsome 
young girls. With her beauty and accomplishments, 
she combines that noble trait of loving devotion to her 
mother and father, inheriting much of the peculiarities of 
the latter ; especially her facility in shooting and riding, 
in both of which she has few superiors. 

On Saturday, the 7th, I departed in Mr. Cody's compa- 
ny for his home, which we reached at 2 a. m., to find his 
wife and younger daughter, Ora, eight years of age, 
awaiting us with buggies, in which we rode to his beauti- 
ful residence, which is situated one mile west of North 
Platte, near the U. P. railroad track. This house, built 
after a design furnished by his estimable wife, combines all 
the elegancies of a thorough mansion. It has three large 
intersecting parlors, the floors are covered with luxurious 
carpets, and the walls bedecked with handsome paintings, 
the more conspicuous being pictures of his family and fron- 
tier friends, Wild Bill, Capt. Jack Crawford, Texas Jack, 
hunting scenes, Indian battles, etc. In addition to these, 
there is a line piano and an organ, on both of which instru- 
ments Mrs. Cody and her elder daughter are excellent 
performers. The table is beautified with beaten silver, 
and the cellar tilled with the finest wines and choicest 
liquors ; for there is a constant stream of visitors, and to 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 411 

entertain guests in regal style is a forte peculiar to Buffalo 
Bill and his elegant wife. 

On the morning following our arrival at North Platte, 
with the first intimation that Buffalo Bill had returned 
home, the town put on its wardrobe of congratulations ; 
flags went up, and the visitors flocked down on him with 
welcomes so hearty as to approach au ovation. His pop- 
ularity reverses the biblical adage, "A prophet is not 
without honor save in his own country." 

Omitting details of his reception by the citizens, de- 
lighted to see him again after a nine months' absence as 
a popular theatrical star in the East, by his invitation a 
party was at once collected, and on horseback we rode 
southward for a hunt near C. II. Groner's (the sheriff's) 
ranche. The season was too early for antelope, so we had 
to content ourselves with smaller game, such as ducks, 
snipe and curlews, which were none too plenty. But in 
addition to the pleasure of killing several birds, I met 
with the characters known as "cow-boys," with whose 
peculiar manners I sought to familiarize myself by re- 
maining over night at the ranche, and participating in 
their games and duties. A shot at a passing coyote was 
the only thing affording any excitement, but this very 
soon disappeared with the little animal , and the follow- 
ing day I was glad to return in a buggy sent for me. 

Beyond the little rifle-practice we had indulged in at 
Buffalo Bill's house and on the prairie, which I consid- 
ered creditable to the entire party participating, I had 
not yet seen anything of special importance, but it was 
reserved for me to witness remarkable sights on Tuesday, 
which would have compensated for a trip a thousand 
times greater. Early in the morning of that day, the 
preliminaries having been arranged the evening previous, 
a party consisting of Buffalo Bill and wife, ex-Congress- 



412 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

man Taft, wife and daughter, Major Heinman and wife, 
with the writer acting as cavalier to the rear, started out 
for a picnic excursion eight miles north of the town, 
taking guns of various calibre with us, and ammunition 
sufficient to provide for an incessant fusilade on glass 
balls, birds and game. The commissary, which was 
under the immediate supervision of Mrs. Cody, was all 
that the most fastidious epicurean could have desired, 
consisting of abundant substantial, as well as those rare 
and dainty delicacies which good housewives know so 
well how to prepare. To these we were all devoutly 
attached, even to the uttermost vestige of the pro vision- 
ary spread. 

When the feasting was over, Buffalo Bill consented to 
amuse the company for a time with some of his prairie 
pastimes. At first I was quite willing to lay wagers of 
ten cents a sKot against his hitting flying glass balls, 
hurled by myself, with his Winchester, but as the ap-. 
pearances very soon convinced me that if I continued the 
betting without hedging I would have to be sent home 
C. O. D., I adopted a wiser course. But I got even with 
him by accepting his bets that I could not hit consecutive 
stationary glass balls, at ten paces, with his gallery rifle. 

But the most exciting part of the entertainment was 
reserved for the last, which was a tableau of unparalleled 
riding and marksmanship. Mounting his gray pony, 
from whose back a shot had never before been fired, Bill 
rode out from the camp with his Winchester, I accompa- 
nying him on a fleet horse. Marking objects on the 
route by pointing to them, as the insubordination of his 
horse precluded the possibility of first locating the marks 
along a defined route, Bill put his steed upon the run and 
began firing right and left, shooting at a distance of fifty 
and seventy-five yards. At every shot the horse would 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 413 

jump sideways so violently that it appeared impossible 
for the agile rider to keep his seat ; yet he seemed like a 
veritable centaur, so perfectly was his equilibrium main- 
tained while his hands were both occupied in handling, 
the gun, which he fired with a rapidity most astonishing. 
Not only did he thus exhibit a truly wonderful accom- 
plishment as a rider, but his marksmanship was equally 
astonishing, for with all his rapid firing from a running, 
fractious horse the bullets were invariably sent with a 
precision which would have won honor for an expert 
shooting from the ground at a target. Surprise cannot 
express my feelings at witnessing the remarkable feats he 
accomplished with rifle on horseback. His tours through 
the country as an actor have familiarized nearly every 
one in the United States with his accuracy of aim, which 
has elicited such spontaneous plaudits from admiring 
audiences ; yet Buffalo Bill on the stage is but a by-play 
to Buffalo Bill on the plains. It is only on the broad 
prairies, beyond the boundaries of confinement, that his 
skill can be shown to advantage, and with a fleet, wild 
horse Buffalo Bill surpasses the most preposterous exag- 
gerations of the Leather Stocking stories. 

Socially, this genuine hero in deed and reputation is 
one of the most generous and noble-hearted of men. To 
meet him is to be his friend. He is the very soul of hu- 
mor and anecdote, regaling a camp with an inexhaustible 
fund of rare experiences and witticisms. At Omaha 
we met Lieut. Frederick Schwatka, the most successful 
of all arctic explorers, who recently found the remains of 
thirty members of the ill-fated Franklin expedition. 
Schwatka and Bill have been in three different expeditions 
together, one as chief of scouts, and the other as lieuten- 
ant in the regular army, and both under Gen. Crook. 

The following story was told to me by the Lieutenant, 



414 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

who regards Bill with a friendship which he delights in. 
During the expedition of 1874 in the Big Horn country, 
when Gen. Crook was operating against the Si nix, the 
command had pitched camp in the canons, where they 
were momentarily expecting an attack. Buffalo Bill, as 
chief of scouts, being well acquainted with the country 
and the peculiarities of the Indians, was given practical 
command of the Snake Indians, who were co-operating 
with the expedition. One night Bill selected one of the 
friendly Indians to act as corporal of the guard, giving 
him minute instructions to call the guard every two hours 
and send a relief. In order to give the Indian a better 
idea of the time, Bill gave him his watch, saying : 

"Now, take this watch, and hold it in your hand; 
when the big hand goes around twice and the little one 
moves two figures, that will show you two hours have 
passed, and you must then put out a new guard." 

The Indian, having never before seen a watch, was so 
pleased with it that he assured Bill he understood his in- 
structions, — being anxious to look at the attractive play- 
. thing, as he considered it. 

Taking a position by the camp-fire, the Indian held the 
watch carefully in his hand, listened to its ticking, and 
then watched the hands. After spending five or six 
hours in this manner he lost all interest in the watch, and 
going over to Bill's tent, he awakened him and said : 

"D — n Melican man; him fool Indian long time" 
(pointing to the watch) ; "big hand all right, but little 
hand, him d — n tired," and threw the watch to Bill. 

The Indian had got the information badly mixed, 
thinking that both hands of the watch should make the 
circuit of the dial in the same time, and becoming dis- 
gusted with the "tired" movement of the smaller hand, 
he thought Bill had been playing a trick on him ; he there- 
fore refused to act as corporal any longer. 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 415 

During the same expedition the Lieutenant and Bill left 
camp one afternoon to bathe in the Sweetwater. While 
they were in the stream the Lieutenant discovered a sage- 
hen in the brush on the bank, and as fresh meat had be- 
come an exceedingly scarce article in that section, the 
two were very anxious to kill the bird. They had but 
one pistol between them, and both wanted to do the 
shooting, trusting in their respective abilities to kill the 
hen. The Lieutenant, however, secured the first shot, 
but missed. Bill then grabbed the pistol, saying, " You 
can't shoot for cold beans ; I'll show you how to profit by 
this opportunity." Taking fair aim, Bill fired, but he 
also missed. He considered the miss an accident, howev- 
er, and refusing to give the Lieutenant another chance, 
he kept firing until the six chambers of the pistol were 
emptied without touching the bird. Incensed at his bad 
shooting, he then hurled the pistol at the bird and — lucky 
circumstance — killed it ! This joke has been following 
Buffalo Bill ever since the return of the expedition, and 
it will probably dog his trails so long as he continues to be 
a crack shot. 

While I was in North Platte I heard another excellent 
joke on Bill, which furnishes too strong a temptation 
for me to resist relating : It is well known that he is the 
most liberal giver in Nebraska. Although far from be- 
ing a church-goer, he nevertheless, contributes to the 
church with a wonderful liberality. When the first fine 
church building was completed in North Platte, proposi- 
tions were made for opening it with grand dedicatory 
ceremonies. Mrs. Cody was anxious to have her hus- 
band attend, and continued to persuade him until he 
consented — not, however, until he had warned her that he 
was almost certain to make a " bad break in meeting." 

In opening the song service the choir occupied a choral 

25 



416 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

gallery in the front part of the church, and the leader 
chanced to be a lady who, while she was an excellent 
organist, had a screechy voice tuned in so high a key that 
no one could follow her. Nevertheless it devolved on 
her to start the tune, both by voice and instrument. 
She began : 

" My soul's in arms — ten thousand foes arise ; " 
but she saw the key was pitched up about seven octaves 
above the door-step of heaven, so she halted a moment, 
and again started : 

" My soul's in arms — ten thousand foes arise." 
But she got it down not more than a single note, which 
left the other portion of the choir and audience on their 
tip-toes, and even then they wanted several feet of reach- 
ing the summit of the air. Bill turned half-way round 
in his seat, and looking up toward the aerial singer, 
cried, " Start it at five thousand, and maybe we can get 
in." The audience were unable to control their risibili- 
ties, while Bill accepted his wife's invitation to retire. 

Such jokes as these are numerous as blades of prairie 
grass about North Platte, Buffalo Bill always figuring as 
the chief character. I never enjoyed a visit so much as 
the brief one I paid Buffalo Bill, and not more to him than 
to his most estimable and handsome wife am I indebted 
for courtesies which I shall ever regard as souvenirs of a 
jolly time in North Platte. 

The success of Buffalo Bill's theatrical enterprises has 
been surprisingly great ; I say surprisingly because he 
has scarcely an equal in the mimic arena, being now reck- 
oned the third richest actor in America, notwithstanding: 
the fact that his personal expenses are perhaps greater 
than those of any other character on the stage, &n£ 'uis 
career dates only since 1873. He combines many rare 
qualities of conception, organization and management, 



LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL. 417 

which force success where all others would fail. His 
ingenuity and business judgment has long been pro- 
nounced ; but his nattering reputation in this respect 
has been far transcended by an enterprise which he 
originated in the summer of 1883 ; one that is at once so 
grand and ambitious that in speaking of it P. T. Barnum 
was lead to declare Buffalo Bill the greatest organizer of 
successful combinations to please public taste in the 
world. 

The enterprise of which I speak is a vivid illustration 
of what he calls " Wild Life in the Far West/' In it he 
has associated with himself Dr. W. F. Carver, the ac- 
knowledged champion rifle, pistol and shot-gun expert of 
the world. Cody and Carver are the proprietors of the 
combination ; they have traveling with them during the 
summer season sixty Indians, as many horses, also herds 
of elk, buffalo, and the most skillful lariat throwers to 
be found either in the West or Mexico. Their entertain- 
ments are in the open air, being usually given in fair 
grounds, and consist in shooting, reckless riding, lasso- 
ing elk and buffalo, illustrating Indian attacks on stage 
coaches, in canons, and on settlements. In short, giv- 
ing a realistic panorama of the wild life through which 
Buffalo Bill has passed. This brilliant conception is thus 
far his crowning achievement, and to speak of it as a 
success does not express the real triumph it has obtained 
wherever the show has been given. It is a fitting con- 
clusion to the exciting life-labors of the only Buffalo Bill 
that the West is capable of bringing into world-wide 
notice for genuine achievements. 




418 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 



CHAPTEE I. 



The Man in the Iron Mask and the author of the Ju- 
nius letters are the great unsolved personalities of history ; 
but while a comparison between these and California Joe 
would appear, in some degree, ridiculous to the aesthetic 
student of human nature, yet in so far as identity alone 
is concerned they were not altogether unlike ; though the 
character of the Wandering Jew would afford an alto- 
gether more appropriate resemblance when considering 
alone the odd traits and singular adventures of this great 
plainsman. 

Who was California Joe? This question many may 
consider themselves able to answer, but no one, perhaps, 
can distinguish between the California Joes who have 
figured in so many escapades attributed to this enigmatic 
character, for there has been more than one person to 
adopt the title. Where was he born? No one will at- 
tempt to answer. The California Joe who hunted, trail- 
ed, fought and slept beside Gen. Custer and Buffalo Bill 
is believed to have been a native of Kentucky. Buffalo 
Bill maintains that his real name was Joseph Milmer, 
while Capt. Payne declares that his name was Joseph 
Hawkins, and, as a further proof of the claim, asserts 
that Joe was a distant relative of Daniel Boone, and also 
his (Payne's) third cousin. We are only able to say, 

419 



420 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

therefore, that California Joe was singularly reticent con- 
cerning his early life, and died at last with his full iden- 
tity unsolved. For what facts I here present concerning 
his life I am indebted to Buffalo Bill_and Capt. Payne, 
and it is this reason" which has prompted me to respect 
the opinions of each by giving their assertions, not, how- 
ever, with any desire to involve them in any further dis- 
cussion concerning Joe's real name. 

The first thrilling adventure in which California Joe 
participated, of which I have any information, may be 
described as follows : 

In the summer of 1849 a party of sixty-five hardy ad' 
venturers from Kentucky, with California Joe as theii 
leader, attempted an overland journey to California, be- 
ing impelled by the golden stories of newly discovered 
wealth along the San Juan . They proceeded without in- 
terruption for several weeks, when they reached a canon 
near Pueblo. Here a camp was made just before night- 
fall, and as the party had never been initiated into the 
perils of Indian treachery, they did not consider the im- 
portance of anticipating and guarding against an attack 
from these prairie nomads. 

During the still hours of night, when the entire party 
was sound in slumber, perchance dreaming of vast treas- 
ures and the exaggerated blessings which wealth provides, 
a band of two hundred vindictive Cheyennes descended, 
likes wolves upon the fold, from the hillsides, and poured 
into the camp before there was even a suspicion of their 
proximity. Lance and arrow, tomahawk and war club, 
soon destroyed the bright dreams, the golden anticipa- 
tions, and out of the party of sixty-five only two escaped, 
one of whom was California Joe, but even he was badly 
wounded. (Two persons who were well acquainted with 
Joe during his life assert that his wife and two little boyi 
were killed at the same time. ) 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 421 

In the darkness of the night Joe succeeded in eluding 
the savages while thej were mutilating and dancing over 
the bodies of his dead comrades, and crawling to the Ar- 
kansas Eiver, one mile distant, embarked on a log, upon 
which he floated down to Ft. Lyon, where he was taken 
out of the water and cared for. 

Although this, his first experience on the plains, had 
been tempered with sore adventure, it was scarcely two 
months after this event when he again attempted the 
overland trip to California. He had with him this time 
but two companions, and having been chastened for his 
lack of precaution, he now fully appreciated the fruits of 
that lesson. A guard was therefore constantly main- 
tained, but even this did not avail against what appeared 
a decree of bitter fate. 

The three were attacked by twenty-five Utahs, as they 
were passing through the gateway of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and after a bitter struggle Joe's comrades were 
killed and himself taken prisoner. The Indians bound 
him securely on a pony, after which they started off 
northward with their prisoner. The terrible forebodings 
which his helpless condition prompted as he rode silently 
beside his cruel captors, as Joe afterward expressed it, 
was "tearin' to a sinner's soul." 

Just before dark the Indians halted in a valley beside 
Green River and then deliberately began to make prepara- 
tions for punishing their victim. Joe was first taken 
from the pony he had been riding and laid upon the 
grass, where he was watched by a single warrior, while 
the others busied themselves gathering dry wood, which 
they piled in a circle about a tree. 

The fiendish intentions of his enemies were now re- 
vealed to Joe, for these preparations he knew meant 
death at the stake. Seeing that his life was to end in 



422 heroes or the plains. 

torture, he made a desperate effort to free himself, hop- 
ing; that his actions would cause some of the Indians to 
kill him at once, but knowing their captive to be well 
bound the savages gave no heed to his writhings. 

When the circle of wood was completed and ready for 
lighting, the savages carried their victim to the tree, and 
despite his struggles, bound him fast, his back being 
drawn tightly against the trunk of the tree. The sacri- 
fice now being prepared, one of the Indians, who was evi- 
dently a chief, drew a large knife, with which he cut off 
the outer rim of each of Joe's ears, placing the bleeding 
flesh inside his beautifully beaded belt. 

When this part of the ceremony was concluded, the 
Indians executed a war dance around their victim, in or- 
der, no doubt, to torture him with the dread anticipation 
of his approaching fate. 

Darkness now had fairly settled down, as if to hide 
the dark and dreadful deed, and accepting this pall of 
nature as the most opportune time for their hellish design, 
the circle of wood was lighted in a dozen places, after 
which the Indians sat down around the fire, filled their 
pipes and entered upon the full enjoyment of the bar- 
becue. 

As the fire had been intentionally placed a little distance 
from Joe's feet, in order that he might first feel its dis- 
comforting heat, thereby prolonging the torture, he had 
time to yell vigorously, this being his only hope of rescuo 
from sudden death, considering all the while a possibility of 
so provoking the Indians that they would kill him out- 
right. 

His lusty shouts, together with the illumination on the 
clouds from the fire about him, by extraordinary good 
fortune, attracted the attention of a party of trappers, 
who chanced to be camped on Green River, within less 




CALIFORNIA JOE AT THE STAKE 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 425 

than half a mile from the place where Joe was being 
sacrificed. Knowing that something was wrong, the trap- 
pers, fifty in number, rushed down toward the spot indi- 
cated by the cries, and approaching carefully they dis- 
covered the situation. With a deadly volley from their 
rifles, twelve Indians dropped over dead with smoking 
pipes in their hands. Another volley followed swiftly 
after the first, and when the trappers rushed to the res- 
cue of Joe they found eighteen savages ready for the 
scalping. Poor fellow ! the fire had wrinkled his buck- 
skin clothes, and so burnt the skin on his lower limbs 
that large pieces fell off ; though the pain he suffered 
was most excruciating, yet the injuries were not of a 
serious character. He was taken to the trappers' camp 
and treated with all the consideration and kindness friends 
are capable of giving. Upon his recovery, some weeks 
after his wonderful escape from the most horrible of 
deaths, Joe became associated with the party in their oc- 
cupation, and followed trapping for more than a year in 
the company of his rescuers. 



CHAPTER II 



California Joe's courtship and marriage, as told by 
himself, and repeated in sweet, pathetic story by one of 
nature's noblemen, Capt. Jack Crawford, is unquestion- 
ably one of the most sympathetic and lovingly sorrowful 
recitals that was ever created by imagination or found in 
any of the peculiar phases of human life. Its reproduc- 
tion here will thrill the hearts of every lover of the most 
noble instincts of nature, and perhaps bring tears to the 



426 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

eyes of many, moved by that fellow-feeling which estab* 
lishes a universal kinship among mankind : 

Well, mates, I don't like stories, 

Nor am I going to act 
A part around this camp fire 

That ain't a truthful fact. 
So fill your pipes and listen, 

I'll tell you — let me see, 
I think it was in fifty, 

From that till sixty-three. 

You've all heard tell of Bridger? 

I used to run with Jim, 
And many a hard day's scouting 

I've done 'longside of him. 
Well, once, near old Fort Reno, 

A trapper used to dwell ; 
We called him old Pap Reynold 

The scouts all knew him well. 

One night — the spring of fifty — 

We camped on Powder River ; 
We killed a calf of buffalo, 

And cooked a slice of liver ; 
While eating, quite contented, 

We heard three shots or four ; 
Put out the fire and listened, 

Then heard a dozen more. 

We knew that old man Reynolds 
Had moved his traps up here ; 

So, picking up our rifles, 
And fixing on our gear, 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 427 

We mounted quick as lightnin' — 

To save was our desire. 
Too late ; the painted heathens 

Had set the house on fire. 

We tied our horses quickly, 

And waded up the stream ; 
While close beside the water 

I heard a muffled scream, 
And there among the bushes, 

A little girl did lie ; 
I picked her up and whispered, 

" I'll save you, or I'll die! " 

Lord, what a ride ! old Bridger, 

He covered my retreat, 
Sometimes the child would whisper, 

In voice so low and sweet, 
" Poor papa ! God will take him 

To mamma up above ; 
There's no one left to love me — 

There's no one left to love." 

The little one was thirteen, 

And I was twenty-two. 
Said I ; " I'll be your father, 

And love you just as true." 
She nestled to my bosom, 

Her hazel eyes so bright, 
Looked up and made me happy, 

Though close pursued that night. 

A month had passed, and Maggie 
(We called her Hazel-Eye), 



428 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

In truth, was going to leave me — 
Was going to say " good-bye." 

Her uncle, mad Jack Reynolds — 
Reported long since dead — 

Had come to claim my angel, 
His brother's child, he said. 

What could I say? We parted. 

Mad Jack was growing old ; 
I handed him a bank-note, 

And all I had in gold. 
They rode away at sunrise, 

I went a mile or two, 
And, parting, said : " We'll meet again- 

May God watch over you." 



Beside a laughing, dancing brook, 

A little cabin stood, 
As, weary with a long day's scout, 

I spied it in the wood. 
A pretty valley stretched beyond, 

The mountains towered above, 
While near the willow bank I heard 

The cooing of a dove. 

'Twas one grand panorama; 
The brook was plainly seen, 

Like a long thread of silver 
In a cloth of lovely green. 

The laughter of the waters, 
The cooing of the dove, 

Was like some painted picture- 
Some well-told tale of love. 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. *2§ 

While drinking in the grandeur, 

And resting in my saddle, 
I heard a gentle ripple, 

Like the dipping of a paddle. 
I turned toward the eddy — 

A strange sight met my view : 
A maiden, with her rifle, 

In a little bark canoe. 

She stood up in the centre, 

The rifle to her eye ; 
I thought (just for a second) 

My time had come to die. 
I doffed my hat and told her 

(If it was all the same) 
To drop her little shooter, 

For I was not her game. 

She dropped the deadly weapon. 

And leaped from the canoe. 
Said she : " I beg your pardon, 

I thought you were a Sioux ; 
Your long hair and your buckskin 

Looked warrior-like and rough ; 
My bead was spoiled by sunshine, 

Or I'd killed you, sure enough." 

"Perhaps it had been better 

You dropped me then," said I ; 
"For surely such an angel 

Would bear me to the sky." 
She blushed and dropped her eyelids ; 

Her cheeks were crimson red ; 
One half -shy glance she gave me, 

4nd then hung down her head. 



430 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

I took her little hand in mine — 

She wondered what I meant, 
And yet she drew it not away, 

But rather seemed content. 
We sat upon the mossy bank — 

Her eyes began to fill — 
The brook was rippling at our feet, 

The dove was cooing still. 

I smoothed the golden tresses, 
Her eyes looked up in mine. 

She seemed in doubt — then whispered 
" 'Tis such a long, long time 

Strong arms were thrown around me — 
Til save you, or I'll die." 

I clasped her to my bosom — 
My long-lost Hazel-Eye. 

The rapture of that moment 

Was almost heaven to me ; 
I kissed her 'mid her tear-drops, 

Her innocence and glee ; 
Her heart near mine was beating, 

While sobbingly she said : 
"My dear, my brave preserver, 

They told me you were dead . 

"But, oh 1 those parting words, Joe, 

Have never left my mind, 
You said : 'We'll meet again, Mag,' 

Then rode off like the wind ; 
And, oh ! how I have prayed, Joe, 

For vou, who saved my life- 
That God would send an anga 

To guard you through all striie. 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 431 

"And he who claimed me from you, 
My uncle, good and true — 
Now sick in yonder cabin — 

Has talked so much of you. 
« If Joe were living, darling,' 
He said to me last night, 
< He would care for Maggie, 

When God puts out my light.' * 

We found the old man sleeping. 

"Hush ! Maggie, let him rest." 
The sun was slowly sinking 

In the far-off glowing west ; 
And tho' we talked in whispers, 

He opened wide his eyes, 
" A dream — a dream I " he murmured, 

"Alas ! a dream of lies ! " 

She drifted like a shadow 
To where the old man lay, 
"You had a dream, dear uncle, 

Another dream to-day? " 
u Oh, yes ; I saw an angel, 
As pure as mountain snow, 
And near her, at my bedside, 
Stood California Joe." 

"I'm sure Tm not an angel, 

Dear uncle, that you know ; 
These arms are brown, my hands, too— 

My face is Dot like snow.* 
jnow, listen wnile 1 tell yoh 

For I have news to cheer- 
And Hazel-Eye is happj v . 

For Joe is truly here." 



432 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

And when a few days after, 

The old man .said to me, 
"Joe, boy, she ar' a angel, 

An' good as angels be ; 
For three long months she's hunted 

An' trapped an' nurs'd me, too ; 
God bless ye, boy ! I believe it — 

She's safe along wi' you." 



The sun was slowly sinking, 

When Mag (my wife) and I 
Came riding through the valley, 

The tear-drops in her eye, 
" One year ago, to-day, Joe — 

I see the mossy grave — 
We laid him 'neath the daisies, 

My uncle, good and brave." 

And, comrades, every spring-time 

Was sure to find me there — 
A something in that valley 

Was always fresh and fair ; 
Our loves were newly kindled 

While sitting by the stream, 
Where two hearts were united 

In love's sweet, happy dream. 

There is another part to this beautiful story, founded 
as it is on fact, which, owing to its singular harmony with 
the sentiment expressed in this poem of Capt. Jack's, fur- 
ther illustrates the large-hearted devotion of California 
Joe, and ought therefore to be added. It is as follows : 

An old trapper named Reynolds, one of the very first 
white men that ever set foot in the Black Hills country, 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 433 

had settled on the Yellowstone with his large family of 
children, among the number being a very beautiful little 
girl eleven years of age, whose name was Maggie. She 
was not only of a winsome figure, lovely in feature and 
disposition, but also very precocious for one of her age. 
Young as she was, nothing so charmed her youthful ambi- 
tion as the chase. With a rifle, the very weight of which 
was a burden scarcely to be borne by such tender shoul- 
ders, she day after day scouted in the vicinity of the old 
cabin, killing deer and even attacking more dangerous 
game, such as bears and wolves. 

One day little Maggie went hunting, as usual, never 
straying far from home, but when night drew on apace 
she had not returned. The mother became somewhat 
anxious at her daughter's prolonged absence ; but when 
darkness fell, and the hours of night sped by one after 
another, anxiety grew into alarm and a search was insti- 
tuted. Father, mother, brothers, all joined in the hunt, 
each calling aloud, from time to time, the name of the 
lost one, but no response came. This search was contin- 
ued for several days and until the distracted parents 
finally concluded that the child had either been carried off 
and devoured by some wild animal, or had been kidnapped 
by the Indians, the latter supposition occurring to them 
as more reasonable. 

Some months after this sad occurrence, California Joe 
while trapping on the Yellowstone, visited old man Rey- 
nolds, and during this visit was made acquainted with the 
circumstances of little Maggie's strange disappearance. 
He at once exclaimed : 

"I'll bet a silver fox's skin that that ar gal is now 
with them thar tarnal Cheyennes ; ' fact I already hearn 
thar was a white face 'mong them wretches." 

Hearing this assertion, Mrs. Reynolds began to lament, 

26 



434 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

but bet ween her sobs of grief she pleadingly inquired if 
there were any means by which her daughter could be 
rescued. 

" Yer bet thar is," replied Joe, "and more than that, 
Mrs. Reynolds, I'll just undertake to find her myself." 

Joe remained over night with the Reynolds family, but 
on the following morning at an early hour, he gathered 
up his rifle and 'bidding them good bye, set off in search of 
the little girl. 

He proceeded to a spot where he knew a party of 
Cheyennes were encamped, with whom he had done some 
trading only a few days before. Finding the Indians, he 
selected four of the tribe he was besl acquainted with, 
and after treating them to a large bottle of frontier 
whisky, he made a contract (stipulating more fire-water) 
with the savage quartette for the restoration of the child. 
These four Indians set out directly to find a large village 
of their tribe located near the headwaters of the Mis- 
souri. They not only succeeded in finding their red 
brothers, but getting into camp it was not long ere they 
also discovered the little pale face in the custody of an 
old squaw who was using Maggie as a servant. 

By skillful insinuation they at length managed to com- 
municate with the little girl, and acquainted her with their 
purpose, arranging at the same time to meet her on the 
Missouri river bank at midnight with a canoe, to carry 
her out of the village. The arrangement succeeded most 
admirably, as the girl, young as she was, einplt%ed so 
much care and cunning thai she stole away from tlie side 
of her sleeping guard and got out of the tepee without 
discovery. She then hastened to the trysting place, 
where she was received l>v the four waiting Indians, who 
conveyed her down the river in their canoe to a spot 
designated by California Joe. 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 



435 



The girl was missed very soon after her escape from 
the village, and ten of the Cheyennes started out at once 
to effect her recapture, but though they made directly 
toward old man Reynolds' cabin, Joe had preceded them 




The Indians Receiving the White Girl into their Canoe. 



fee- far that Maggie was restored to her overjoyed parents 
before the Indians arrived. When they came up to the 
cabin, intending to forcibly retake the girl, they were 
met by a volley of bullets from deadly rifles in the hauds 



436 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

of Joe and Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, the latter being a 
true frontiersman's wife, knowing how to shoot as well 
as most crack shots. A lively fight ensued, but protected 
by the cabin, the party inside sustained no injury, while 
they succeeded in killing five of the Indians. The coun- 
try, however, had now become too dangerous for a longer 
residence on the Yellowstone, and the Reynolds family 
speedily abandoned their home and fled southward with 
Joe to the North Platte. 

It has been asserted that California Joe married the 
little girl he had thus rescued, six years afterward, but it 
is possible that the name of the girl, Maggie, being the 
same as that of his wife, gave rise to this belief. The 
circumstances, as here related, concerning the rescue of 
Reynolds' daughter, are undoubtedly true, but that he 
married this same girl afterward is scarcely worthy of 
belief. Joe himself related the story of his marriage to 
Capt. Jack, who undoubtedly truthfully repeated it in 
the beautiful verses already quoted. 



CHAPTER III. 

In 1857 California Joe removed to Oregon, where he 
continued trapping and prospecting until the civil war 
broke out, when he returned to the States, and shortly 
afterward joined Berdan's sharpshooters, among whom 
he was regarded as far the most skillful marksman in 
that arm of the service. 

The following incident is told of him by a war corres- 
pondent of Harper's Weekly in reporting the first siege 
of Richmond in 1862 : 



LIFE OP CALIFORNIA JOE. 437 

"A rebel sharpshooter had been amusing himself and 
annoying the General and other officers by firing several 
times in that direction, and sending the bullets in un- 
pleasant proximity to their heads. 

" 'My man, can't you get your piece on that fellow 
who is firing on us, and stop his impertinence?' asked 
the General. 

" 'I think so,' replied Joe; and he brought his tel- 
escopic rifle to a horizontal position. 

" 'Do you see him?' inquired the General. 

" 'I do.' 

' ' ' How far is he away ? ' 

" 'Fifteen hundred yards.' 

' ' ' Can you fetch him ? ' 

" 'I'll try.' 

"And Joe did try. He brought his piece to a steady 
aim, pulled the trigger, and sent the bullet whizzing on 
its experimental tour, the officers meanwhile looking 
through their field glasses. Joe evidently hit the fellow 
in the leg or foot, for he went hobbling up the hill on 
one leg and two hands, in a style of locomotion that was 
amusing." 

The picture of California Joe given at the commence- 
ment of this sketch, is from a photograph taken during 
the siege of Yorktown, by Harper's special artist, and 
represents him in his position picking off the Confeder- 
ate gunners. The personality and situation are there- 
fore true to life. 

At the close of the war Joe became connected with 
Gen. Curtis, for whom he trailed and did guide service 
for several years, following him in the Wachita campaign, 
and afterward with the command scouting through Ne- 
braska and Dakotah. In Gen. Custer's work, "My 
Life on the Plains," that gallant officer gives the follow- 



438 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ing description of Joe, having reference to tho time 
when his command was operating against Black Kettle, 
in the Wachrita mountains : 

"In concentrating the cavalry which had hitherto been 
operating in small bodies, it was found that each detach- 
ment brought with it the scouts who had been serving 
with them. When I joined the command I found quite 
a number of these scouts attached to various portions of 
the cavalry, but each acting separately. For the purpose 
of organization it was deemed best to unite them in a sep- 
arate detachment under command of one of their own 
number. Being unacquainted with the merits or demer- 
its of any of them, the selection of a thief had to be 
made somewhat at random. 

"There was one among their number whose appearance 
would have attracted the notice of any casual observer. 
He was a man about forty years of age, perhaps older, 
over six feet in height, and possessing a well proportioned 
frame. His head was covered with a luxuriant crop of 
long, almost black hair, strongly inclined to curl, and so 
long as to fall carelessly over his shoulders. His face, 
at least so much of it as was not concealed by the long, 
waving brown beard and moustache, was full of intelli- 
gence and pleasant to look upon. His eye was undoubt- 
edly handsome, black and lustrous, with an expression 
of kindness and mildness combined. On his head was 
generally to be seen, whether awake or asleep, a huge 
sombrero, or black slouch hat. A soldier's overcoat, 
with its large circular cape, a pair of trousers with the 
legs tucked in the top of his long boots, usually consti- 
tuted the make-up of the man whom I selected as chief 
scout. He was known by the euphonious title of ' Cali- 
fornia Joe ; ' no other name seemed ever to have been 
given him, and no other name appeared to be necessary. 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 431) 

His military armament consisted of a long, breech-load- 
ing Springfield musket, from which he was inseparable, 
and a revolver and hunting-knife, both the latter being 
carried in his waist-belt. His mount completed his 
equipment for the field, being, instead of ahorse, a finely 
formed^mule, in whose speed and endurance he had every 

confidence. 

* * * * * * 

"California Joe was an inveterate smoker, and was 
rarely seen without his stubby, dingy-looking briarwood 
pipe in full blast. The endurance of his smoking powers 
was only surpassed by his loquacity. His pipe frequently 
became exhausted and required filling, but California Joe 
seemed never to lack for material or disposition to carry 
on a conversation, principally concerning personal adven- 
tures among the Indians, episodes in mining life, or expe- 
rience in overland journeying before the days of steam 
engines and palace cars rendered a trip across the plains 
a comparatively uneventful one. It was evident from 
the scraps of information volunteered from time to time, 
that there was but little of the Western country, from the 
Pacific ocean to the Missouri river, with which California 
Joe was not intimately acquainted . He had lived in Oregon 
years before, and had become acquainted from time to 
time with most of the officers who had served on the plains 
or on the Pacific coast. I once inquired of him if he had 
ever seen General Sheridan. He answered : 

"'What! General Sheridan? Why, bless my soul, I 
knowed Sheridan away up in Oregon more'n fifteen years 
ago, and he wuz only a second lieutenant uv infantry. 
He was quartermaster uv the foot, er suthin' o' that sort, 
an' I hed the contract fer furnishin' wood to the post, 
an', would yer b'leve it? I hed a kind uv a sneakin' no- 
tion that he'd hurt sombody ef they'd ever turn him 
loose. Lord, but ain't he old lightnin' ! ' 



440 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

"This was the man whom, upon a short acquaintance, 

I decided to appoint as chief of the scouts." 

****** 

" As the four detachments already referred to were to 
move as soon as it was dark, it was desirable that the 
scouts should be at once organized and assigned. So, 
sending for California Joe, I informed him of his promo- 
tion and what was expected of him and his men. After 
this official portion of the interview had been completed, 
it seemed proper to Joe's mind that a more intimate ac- 
quaintance between us should be cultivated, as we had 
never met before. His first interrogatory, addressed to 
me in furtherance of this idea, was frankly put as fol- 
lows : 

" ' See hyar, Gineral, in order thet we hev no misonder- 
standin' I'd jist like ter ax ye a few questions. First, 
are ye an ambulance man er a hoss man?' 

" Professing ignorance of his meaning, I requested him 
to explain. 

" ' I mean,' said he,' doyerb'lieve in catchin' Injuns in 
ambulances or on hossback?' 

" Still assuming ignorance, I replied, ' Well, Joe, I be- 
lieve in catching Indians wherever we can find them, 
whether they are found in ambulances or on horseback.' 

"'Thet ain't what I'm a drivin' at,' he responded. 
' S'pose you're after Injuns and really want to hev a 
tussle with 'cm, would yer start after 'cm on hossback 
er would yer climb inter a ambulance and be hauled after 
'em? Thet's the pint I'm a headin' fer.' 

" I answered that I would prefer the method on horse- 
back, provided I really desired to catch the Indians ; but 
if I wished them to catch me, I would adopt the ambu- 
lance system of attack. 

" ' You've hit the nail squaron the head,' said he, 'I've 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 441 

bin with 'em on the plains whar they started out after In- 
juns on wheels jist as ef they war goin' to a town fu- 
neral in ther States, an' they stood 'bout as many chan- 
ces uv catchin' Injuns ez a six-mule team would uv catchin' 
a pack of thievin' ki-o-tes, jist as much. Why, thet sort 
uv work iz only fun fertile Injuns ; they don't want any- 
thing better. Yer ort to 've seed how they peppered it to 
us, and we a doin' o' nuthin' all the time. Sum uv 'em 
wuz afraid the mules war goin' to stampede an run off 
with ther train and all our forage an' grub, but thet wuz 
impossible ; fer besides the big loads uv corn an' bacon 
an' baggage the wagons hed in 'em, thai* war from eight 
to a dozen infantry men piled into 'em besides. Yer ort 
to hev heard the quartermaster in charge uvthe train try- 
in' to drive the infantry men out uv the wagons and git 
them into ther fight. I 'spect he wuz a Irishman, by his 
talk, fer he said to 'em : " Git out uv thim wagons ; get 
out uv thim wagons ; yez' 11 hev me thried fer disobadi- 
ance uv orders for marchin' tin min in a wagon whin I've 
ordhers fer but ait." " 

I have quoted somewhat liberally from Gen. Custer, be- 
cause that which is repeated above affords an excellent 
basis upon which to form an opinion of California Joe's 
unique peculiarities. Old Joe was, however, of so much 
importance that Custer devotes several pages of his book 
to a rehearsal of the droll adventures of this singular 
character. 

After Custer's fight with Black Kettle, in which a great 
victory was gained, breaking the power of the Cheyennes 
completely, California Joe was selected as courier to 
carry the report back to Gen. Sheridan, whose headquar- 
ters were at Camp Supply. The journey was not more 
than one hundred miles, but it was through a country lit- 
erally beset with revengeful Indians. Black Kettle's 



442 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

forces were, of course, dispersed in the battle and had 
divided up into small parties so as to facilitate their es- 
cape ; they had back-tracked in order to again reach the 
game country of the Indian Nation, and of this fact Cus- 
ter was well aware when he requested Joe to carry the 
dispatches, tendering him at the same time, a cavalry es- 
cort of fifty men. Custer was, therefore, very much 
surprised to hear Joe say that he wanted no escort and 
that the only companion he desired on the trip was his 
"pardner," Jack Corbin, whose peculiar characteristic 
was extreme taciturnity, the very opposite of Joe, whose 
loquaciousness was almost phenomenal. It was a singu- 
lar attachment which bound these two men together, 
doubtless the desire of one to do all the talking while the 
other was contented only while doing all the listening. 
But whatever constituted the bond of friendship between 
them it was of a material of great strength. 

These two men, Joe and Corbin, set out from Custer's 
camping place at nightfall and reached Camp Supply in 
less than twenty-four hours, though they had to make 
several wide circuits to avoid the Indians. Deliverimr 
the dispatches to Sheridan, they received a message for 
Custer in reply, and with a change of animals, returned 
to the latter' s camp in just forty-eight hours from the 
time of their departure. 

During the operations of Custer in the Wachita Moun- 
tains, and after the defeat of Black Kettle, while the 
command was encamped, California Joe, Capt. D. L. 
Payne and four of the soldiers went out several miles 
from camp for a bear hunt. While riding up a canon 
just across the boundary line of New Mexico, Joe, who 
was in advance, espied seven Indians approaching up the 
same canon in single file. In an instant he threw him- 
self sideways off his mule, which action was followed by 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 443 

the rest of his parly. Payne, not having observed the 
Indians, and thinking that Joe had seen a bear, eagerly 
inquired : 

"Where is it, Joe?" 

"Look around that thar boulder and down ther canon ; 
thar's seven uv 'ein," was his reply. 

Payne made the examination as directed, and then see- 
ing the Indians, remarked : 

"Those are Indian-, Joe, and perhaps they are coming 
in to surrender themselves, or make peace. What do 
you propose doing ? ' 

"What do I p'rpose ter do? Why, I p'rpose to take 
thar scalps ; we'll jist drop behind this here boulder, an* 
when they come up we'll bag 'em, hide an' all." 

" No, no, Joe, that isn't right ; we ought to first decide 
whether they are hostiles or not ; the fact is, I believe 
they are peaceable Indians, or else they would not be 
riding so leisurely this near Custer's camp." 

"Look a hyar, Cap, when I make up my mind to kill 
Injuns no man can pcrvent me," replied Joe, and quickly 
dropping his pistol so as to cover Capt. Payne in a vital 
spot, he concluded the sentence by saying, "an' ef I find 
it necessary I'll have ter drop yer first ; yer jist keep 
right still, er off goes yer brain-pan." 

"All right, Joe," Payne answered, "you have the 
drop on me, but I am not afraid to tackle you in a fair 
way, even chances, if you are sufficiently offended by my 
protest to want satisfaction. However, if the majority 
of the boys favor killing the Indians, then I am satisfied 
to do my part of it." 

The soldiers favored Joe's proposition, and they there- 
fore awaited the approach, with guns ready. When the sav- 
ages came within about thirty-five yards of the ambush, 
Payne noticed that the pony ridden by the leading Indian 



444 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

began to sniff and throw his ears forward, which they 
invariably do when catching the first scent of a white 
man. 

"Now is your time, or we will be detected," and with 
this remark the six turned loose their rifles, dropping as 
many Indians, and as the seventh and last one turned to 
run, another shot wounded his pony and he was thus 
placed at the mercy of Joe. But the quality of that 
mercy was quickly illustrated, for in a moment a ball 
from the old scout's rifle penetrated the warrior's brain, 
and then there was work for the scalping knife. 

Joe, with a wave of his hand, said : "Now look a hyar, 
boys, you can have the fixtures, but the scalps ar' mine." 
He then drew his large hunting knife, and mechanically 
raising the head of each dead Indian, one at a time, he 
dexterously cut out a large circular piece of scalp and hair, 
cramming each scalp into his waist-belt as it was extir- 
pated. 

This adventure terminated the hunt, and they returned 
to camp with the trophies of their conquest. Shortly 
afterward the command was ordered to Ft. Hays, and 
there Joe sold his seven scalps to curiosity lovers, and 
scouts who were ambitious for the reputation of Indian 
killers, at the rate of five dollars each. 



CHAPTER IV. 



California Joe was u born hunter, trapper and guide, 
but he seldom followed either of these employments for 
any considerable length of time, rather pursuing them in 
rotation as if to extract all the enjoyment that was to 




CALIFORNIA JOE ATTACKED BY A PANTHER. 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 445 

be found in all. So from Ft. Hays he went to New 
Mexico to kill game for the outlying posts of that sec- 
tion. It was while thus engaged that he met with a most 
singular adventure, and one which came near terminating 
his usefulness for anything save wolf bait. 

Passing under a ledge of large boulders, which were 
covered with a profusion of tropical vegetation, an im- 
mense Mexican cougar, or spotted panther, that had evi- 
dently been living in an enforced fast until hunger had 
made it fearless, sprang from its covert and lighted 
squarely on Joe's back. That it meant to devour him 
was evidenced by the manner of attack. The animal 
fastened its teeth deep into the flesh at the base of Joe's 
neck, and with terrific growls began its desperate work, 
rending his back and ripping his sides with its stiletto- 
like claws. 

The force with which the animal struck Joe, when it 
bounded upon his back, knocked his rifle several feet 
distant, leaving him with only his large knife for defense ; 
but this he used with such excellent results, notwith- 
standing the awkward position he was forced to assume, 
that he disemboweled the voracious cougar and almost 
cut it in two before the animal's hold was broken. He 
killed the powerful beast, but his own injuries were of 
the most serious character, and but for his great knowl- 
edge of the medicinal virtues contained in several plants 
in convenient proximity, he would surely have died of his 
wounds. He was still able to secure the plants needed, 
from which he prepared a balsamic poultice with which 
he bound up his neck, the properties of the plants being 
to stay the flow of blood and absorb the poison which 
always appears after the bite of an animal. But when 
the wound healed a very large and prominent scar re- 
mained, which marked him until his death. 



448 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



In 1875 California Joe and Jack Corbin, his old 
partner, went to the Black Hills to try their luck 
in gold mining. They built a small cabin at a point 
where the indications were good, but after dig-srim* 
for some time without reaching pay dirt, they 




California Joe Saves his Friend. 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 449 

started another prospect hole about five miles further 
up the mountains. Here their work was prosecuted 
with much vigor and some profit. On one occasion 
Joe had gone back to the cabin for some blasting pow- 
der, all their heavy articles being stored at that place, 
leaving Corbin alone for the time being. Upon his re- 
turn, and when within a short distance of the prospect 
hole, Joe heard his partner shouting for help. He rushed 
forward with all possible speed, and just as he reached 
an opening commanding a view of the spot where the 
mine was being put down, he saw Corbin down upon one 
knee battling with a large, powerful Sioux Indian, whose 
knife was being uplifted for a fatal plunge. It was 
scarcely an instant, so quick, in fact, that the knife had 
not begun to descend, when Joe raised his rifle and sent 
a ball crashing through the Indian's heart. 

After his marvelous rescue from death, Corbin related 
to Joe the circumstances of the attack substantially as 
follows : 

"I was working on the shale at the side of the pit, 
and just as I came to the top for the purpose of empty- 
ing the bucket, before I had a suspicion of an Indian's 
presence, this fellow (poking the dead Indian with his 
foot) leaped on me, and as his strength was far greater 
than my own, I was borne to the ground and had to fight 
with my bare hands to prevent him from stabbing me. 
I maintained this unequal contest for several minutes, 
keeping hold of his wrists, with all my might, shouting 
for you all the while, for I felt that unless assistance 
came soon my doom was sealed. At length he released 
his right hand, and was in the attitude you saw him when 
that blessed bullet f om old ' never fail ' picked me up out 
of the very jaws of death." 

Some weeks after this incident another move was made 



450 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

in search of better paying dirt, the next location being 
on the side of an adjacent mountain about the same dis- 
tance (five miles) from their cabin. It was customary 
for the two miners to carry their provisions and cooking 
utensils with them on a small burro, so that they were 
not compelled to return to the cabin at the close of each 
day's work, especially as the weather was so delightful 
as to permit a comfortable sleep on the ground, where, 
in fact, it was cooler, and therefore more pleasant, than 
down in the valley where their cabin was situated. 

Corbin was sent over to Custer City after new supplies, 
shortly after their last location was made, and during his 
absence California Joe, being unable to work in the pit 
without assistance, concluded to- prospect over the adjoin- 
ing district, entertaining a hope that he might make some 
great discovery by which to surprise Corbin on his return. 
So, packing his patient little burro, he set out up the 
mountain side, carrying his rifle and pistol with him. 
After searching for some time he found what appeared to 
be excellent surface indications of gold, and here he tied 
his little pack animal and began to work with his pick. 

In working around over the various places he left his 
gun lying on the ground some distance from him. Pretty 
soon his attention was attracted by an "Ugh! White 
man I" the voice and sound of which immediately apprised 
him of an Indian's presence. Joe quickly grasped his 
pistol, but before turning round looked over his shoulder 
and saw an Indian holding his (Joe's) gun, and looking 
at him with a very demure countenance, while some dis- 
tance in the background were two others watching the 
proceedings. Knowing with what dread the Indians re- 
garded him, Joe spoke out" 

"Ugh! white man, yes ; California Joe. Come on 
fight." 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 



451 



By this time Joe had his pistol presented, while the 
Indian, profoundly astonished at meeting an adversary 




of such known powers, changed his demeanor, and ad- 
vancing, proffered Joe his hand. Instead of attacking 



452 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

him as they had intended, the Indians made many over- 
tures of friendship, and returning Joe's gun, they soon 
afterward departed. The first Indian, who had crept up 
and secured the gun, evidently believed that he could 
intimidate the owner, who was left with nothing but a 
pistol to fight three Indians ; but the magic in the name 
of " California Joe " changed their purpose. 

This wonderful dread of one man, and of California 
Joe in particular, was illustrated before, in 1869, as will 
be found related in the life of Captain Payne, whose 
escape from a frightful death was due entirely to the 
belief entertained by a large bod}'' of Indians who had 
surrounded him and two others, that one of his comrades 
was California Joe. 



CHAPTER V. 

During Gen. Crook's expedition to the Big Horn 
country, California Joe proffered his services, which were 
gladly accepted. All the regular army boys were warm- 
ly attached to him on account of his droll character and 
excellent fighting qualities, and when he came into camp 
they gave him a genuine ovation. Buffalo Bill was a 
special favorite of Joe's and to be with him Joe would 
sacrifice almost any interest. The principal reasons for 
this attachment were found in the rollicking freedom, gen- 
erosity, true grit, and infectious good humor of Bill, and 
chiefly, it may also bo added, because of Bill's extraordi- 
nary good skirmishing and nosing qualities for " sour 
mash," of which grain extraction Joe was passionately 
fond. As Bill would divide his last cent with a comrade, 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 453 

he was no less noted for dividing his last ' ' drop ' ' with a 
friend, and Joe was always a solicitor for that "drop." 
After the command reached the Big Horn mountains and 
was moving in daily expectation of meeting the Sioux, 
Bill called Joe to his tent one evening while they were in 
camp, and said : 

" Joe, now you have been with this expedition for more 
than two weeks without being on the pay-roll. General 
Crook is glad to have your services, and there is no reason 
that I know of why you cannot be regularly engaged as a 
scout, and thus draw a salary of five dollars per day. If 
you would like the service I will see Crook and have you 
engaged. What do you say to the proposition ? ' ' 

" Oh, I don't know 'bout this here scoutin' with Crook ; 
'pears to me I wouldn't jist like it," replied Joe. 

" "Well, I don't see what your objection is ; it is only 
your own interest that I have in view ; the service is well 
organized and Crook is a splendid officer. What is the 
trouble ? ' ' Bill urged. 

"I've got reasons of my own," responded Joe. 
Bill waited some moments for further explanations, 
but hearing none he inquired : 

"Well, Joe, you have no objection to telling me, have 
you, why you can't expect proper treatment from Gen. 
Crook?" 

The reply was fully characteristic of Joe. Putting on 
an innocent and injured look, he responded : 

" Fact is jist this, Bill, and I don't mind tellin' uvyou, 
because you are my friend and I know it won't go 
any further, I'll never scout for any 'tamal gover'ment 
officer that won't furnish pie to his men. Now, thet's 
my reason." 

Bill was, of course, fairly convulsed with laughter at 
the joke Joe had thus perpetrated on him, and the only 



454 HEROES OF THE TLAINS. 

way to get even he at once availed himself of. So turn- 
ing about, he raised the lid of a "sacred" chest, and 
drawing from a very obscure comer thereof a dark-col- 
ored bottle, presented it to Joe with the remark : 

"Old boy, that's good. Imbibe! I'll have you put 
on the pay-roll to-morrow as scout, and see that you get 
a daily ration of 'pie.' " 

"When Crook's command reached Independence Rock, 
on the Sweetwater, another incident occurred illustrative 
of Joe's penchant for perpetrating jokes. At this point 
the expedition went into camp, and the boys — as the 
soldiers are invariably called in camp — after hard march- 
ing, were hungry and wanted a few extras, something at 
least to take the part of dessert to their regular rations 
of hard crackers and bacon. Some new supplies were 
received at Independence Rock, which included a large 
variety of canned fruits and meats, the very appearance 
of which was to the privates like cool, crystal water to 
the traveler in a desert, famishing from thirst. Several 
of the boys rushed up to the commissary asking for ra- 
tions of canned goods, but they could be obtained only 
upon an order issued by the commissary sergeant, a fact 
which several were not made acquainted with, and conse- 
quently could not understand why they were refused. 

Joe procured the necessary order, and going to the 
commissary, obtained a large quantity of canned corn, 
tomatoes, sardines, oysters, peaches, etc., which he 
placed on his arm and then shuffled through the camp to 
his tent, taking good care to display his "rations" to 
those who had been refused. Presently one of the sol- 
diers stopped him and said: 

"Hold on, Joe, I want you to tell me how you got 
those canned goods. I've been up there begging for a 
few cans and they wouldn't give me a single one." 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 455 

"Oh," replied Joe, "that's ther way they treat some 
uv the boys that they think will stand it. I tell you thet 
them thar canned goods belong to ther soldiers, and ef 
you'll do as I did they'll give yer all yer want." 

"Well, what must I do, Joe?" 

" Why, jist go up boldly to thet ther commissary with 
ther list yer want, an' ef he refuses to giv' 'em to yer, 
knock him down an' take what yer want. Them commis- 
sary fellers thinks they're 'fernal smart ; yer've got ter 
teach 'em thet they ain't, thet's all." 

Believing implicitly every word Joe had said, the sol- 
dier, who was a large double-jointed descendant of the 
Grampian stock, immediately started off to get the can- 
ned goods peaceably if he could, forcibly if he must. 
Having made out a list of what he wanted, the private 
called on the commissary and put in his request. 

" Where is }'Our order?" asked the commissary. 

"Here's my order, and I want it filled," replied the 
soldier. 

"We don't recognize that kind of an order here ; you 
must — ' 

But the sentence was left unfinished, for the great right 
hand bower of that enraged soldier fell so heavily 
against the commissary's right eye that he would have 
been falling yet, perhaps, if some friend had not caught 
him. The soldier then leaped over the counter and help- 
ed himself, and he took care not to be stingy about the 
.quantity either. This soldier who was bound to have his 
"rights" was duly arrested and brought before Colonel 
Mills, who gave him a severe sentence, but learning the 
part that Joe had acted, released him after an imprison- 
ment of one day. The Colonel afterward asked Joe why 
he had so deceived the soldier, and was answered : 

" Oh, I didu't mean any harm ; only I wanted to hev a 
little fun." 



456 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

There is one more humorous incident arising from 
Joe's love of practical joking, that must be included 
before closing this brief record of his life. 

The Crook expedition, with Col. Anson Mills command- 
ing, was passing through Yellowstone Park at a late hour 
one afternoon, when, reaching a spot within a mile of 
the intended camp for the night, Joe came across an old 
grave, before which he stopped and reverently uncovered 
head, appearing at the same time to be much affected. 
Of course the boys who saw him in this attitude — and it 
was nearly the entire command — were anxious to know 
the cause of his singular action. His reply was as fol- 
lows : 

"This hyar is the grave of poor Amos Billings; I 
helped to bury him in this spot 'way back in '36. Yer 
see there wuz a party uv twenty uv us, an' we hed been 
up to the Black Hills a diggin' gold. We found so much 
uv the precious stuff thct we actually loaded ourselves 
down with it. Every man hed his mule loaded to the 
las' poun' it could cany, and besides this we all hed our 
pockets full. In fact we hed to leave a lot uv it behind, 
becos we couldn't carry another ounce. Well, when we 
got ter this place we went into camp ; an' thet night poor 
Billings took thcr cramps. Lordy ! how he did suffer, is 
awful fer me to think uv now. We did everything in 
our power to help him, but, poor fellow, he died, and 
here is whar we buried him. As all uv us already hed 
all the gold we could carry, we buried Billings' gold with 
him, includin' what his mule was a carryin', fer none uv 
us considered thct we bed any right to it. Poor Amos 
Billings! here is one tear more to moisten yer grave." 

Shortly after dark, when the command had gone into 
camp, the entire force under Col. Mills attacked "Poor 
Amos Billings' grave," and no body of men ever worked 



LIFE OF CALIFORNIA JOE. 457 

harder and with greater expectations than they. When 
the excavation had reached a depth of about ten feet, 
with a most astonishing circumference, they found — 
nothing but some old bones ! 

Joe had conceived this monstrous lie almost as soon as 
he discovered the grave ; and though he placed the date 
of burial almost anterior to his own birth, the "golden 
story" turned the soldiers wild, and as he looked around 
and saw the deserted camp, he only murmured, "What 
'fernal fools these fellers be !" 

Notwithstanding the fact that nearly every one who 
enjoyed his acquaintance was his friend, Joe died the vic- 
tim of the most damnable assassination. On the 5th 
day of December, 1876, while sitting in front of his 
cabin at Red Cloud, Dakotah, performing some little 
duty, a cowardly fiend slipped up to the corner of the 
cabin, where, from a concealed position, he shot poor old 
Joe to death. It was a most terrible murder, which could 
find a parallel only in the assassination of his friend, 
Wild Bill, only four months before, and, deplorable to 
relate, Joe's murderer made good his escape and has 
never since been apprehended. 



* A, Jl 




Kit Carson and his Blind Horse. 



458 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER I. 



No character of which history gives any account pre 
sents more anomalous peculiarities than that of Kit Car- 
son. His whole nature was enigmatic, for no two per- 
sons, however intimate they might have been with him, 
whether on the plains or in the councils of white men or 
Indians, could agree in their estimation of his traits of 
character. Like the temple of Janus, he always pre- 
sented two or more unlike sides, each so distinctly prom- 
inent that those about him were invariably diverse in 
their opinions respecting his disposition. He was, ap- 
parently, at once the polished gentleman and the rough 
plainsman ; shrinking from and courting danger at the 
same time ; an adviser and the reckless mad-cap of his 
companions ; large in his own estimation, yet modest and 
most unpretentious among his associates ; a lover of 
peace, though still the organizer of discord. In brief, 
he was unlike any person save himself alone, and had it 
been possible his spirit would certainly have abandoned 
its own castle, so as to present a perfect dissimilarity. 
These strange peculiarities will be partly seen in the fol- 
lowing biographical sketch, which pretends to no other 
merit than that of a faithful portraiture, after a thorough 
consideration of all the available facts connected with his 
remarkable career. 

459 



460 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Christopher (Kit) Carson's birth-place has been va- 
riously located, and all authors who have attempted to 
write the history of his adventures have usually prefaced 
their labors with an argument attempting to prove their 
respective claims, some asserting that he was born in 
Kentucky, others in Illinois, and yet others claiming 
Missouri as his place of nativity. The opinion of the 
writer, gained from proofs adduced by Peters and Bur- 
dett, both of whom have been Carson's biographers, is, 
that his native place was Madison County, Kentuck} r , 
where he was born on the 24th of December, 1809. In 
the following year, the family removed to what was then 
Upper Louisiana, but what is now Missouri, settling in a 
region of country which, at this time, is defined as How- 
ard County. 

Gen. John C. Fremont, during his great exploring 
expedition through the West in the years 1843-44, em- 
ployed Kit Carson as his chief guide, and in giving an 
exhaustive report of his travels and discoveries devoted 
much space to a description of the renowned hunter and 
his wonderful adventures. The General, in this report, 
claims that Carson was a native of Boonslick County, 
Missouri, but as there is no such county in that State the 
assertion furnishes the proof of its own error. It is very 
probable, however, that Gen. Fremont meant Boone 
County, which adjoins Howard, and as Missouri was not 
organized into counties until some lime after Carson's 
birth, being ceded to the United States by France in 
1804 and admitted as a State in 1821, the causes which 
led to such an error are manifest. Another important 
fact in this connection affords a still readier means for 
determining the cause of the error referred to, and also 
the reasons which induced a removal of Kit Carson's 
father to Missouri, may be stated as follows : 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 4G1 

Directly after the formation of the territorial govern- 
ment over Missouri, the great Salt Springs of Howard 
county, bearing the name of "Boonslick," in honor of 
Daniel Boone, the famous Kentucky woodsman, became 
the center of attraction to all emigrants seeking homes 
west of the Mississippi river. Although this section of 
the country was occupied by numerous bands of Indians, 
none of the tribes offered any hostility to the settlement 
of white men on their lands until the encroachments inci- 
ted cupidity and numerous crimes. These salt works 
were operated by Major James Morrison, and with such 
success that they became the means of a rapid building 
up of the new territory. 

One of the first offices opened by the United States for 
the sale of lands west of the Mississippi was in the vicin- 
ity of Boonslick in the year 1818, when Illinois had just 
been admitted to the sisterhood of States. It was imme- 
diately thronged with purchasers of lands which, the set- 
tlers, however, had already been cultivating. Some of 
these had located themselves on the public domain as soon 
as it had been purchased by the United States, and fore- 
going personal safety and the comforts of refined society, 
had plunged into the wilderness and carved out homes 
with their own hands. Among this number was the 
father of Kit Carson, who became possessed of a fine 
tract of land on Bonne Femme creek. 

In the year 1810, when the infant Kit came to Mis- 
souri, the territory contained a population of 20,845 souls, 
and but a single newspaper, the Gazette, which is still 
running as the Missouri Republican, and is to-day the 
most important and influential paper published west of 
the Mississippi. The primitive condition of the wilder- 
ness in which the brave hunter was to be reared, and the 
causes which led to his adoption of a hunter's life, des- 



462 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

tined to be so replete with adventure, can thus be readily 
conceived. The numerous Indian wars which engaged 
the settlers during the years of 1811 to 1820 it is hardly 
appropriate to describe here, especially since the father 
of Kit Carson rarely participated, or if he did no record 
is available from which the circumstances may be gathered. 

Kit Carson, at the age of fifteen, had already become 
an expert with the rifle, having manifested a passion for 
hunting at an uncommonly early age. Day after day he 
would wander through the forests, wholly unaccompa- 
nied, in pursuit of bear, deer and wolves, exhibiting 
especial delight in meeting with the largest species of the 
former, hundreds of which became victims to his aim 
before he was scarcely more than a dozen years old. He 
exhibited a more ardent desire for adventure as he grew 
older, and in 1826, hoping to find opportunity for a grati- 
fication of his longings, he joined a band of traders in 
an expedition from St. Louis to Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
During this trip no special incident occurred beyond the 
accidental shooting of one of the party, which necessi- 
tated the amputation of an arm. In the performance of 
this surgical operation Carson, because of the assistance 
he proffered and the nerve he exhibited, was called to act 
the chief part. The instruments used consisted of a 
razor, hand-saw and an iron bolt ; the latter being heated 
to high temperature and used to cauterize the bleeding 
cut. Although little skill was used in the operation, the 
wounded man recovered and served in subsequent expe- 
ditions. 

After the arrival of the traders at Santa Fe, Carson 
abandoned the party and went to Fernandez de Taos, 
where he became intimate with a mountaineer and re- 
mained during the following year, engaged chiefly in 
breaking wild horses, which, after being caught, were 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



463 



kept in haciendos until a rider could be secured to domes- 
ticate them. Being thrown with Mexicans exclusively, 
Kit applied himself earnestly to the acquirement of the 



B 







Spanish language, in which, after a year of study, he be- 
came sufficiently conversant to fill the position of inter- 
preter to a rich American merchant named Trammell, 



464 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

with whom he made a trip to El Paso and Chihuahua. 
Leaving this service a year afterward, Carson became 
teamster in an expedition fitted out by Robt. M. Knight, 
for a trip to the copper mines on the Gila river, but re- 
turnino; within a few months he asniin visited Taos. 

Having saved a few dollars from the services in which 
he had been employed, Kit spent a few months in Taos, 
and until an opportunity was offered him to join a band 
of forty trappers under Ewing Young. These trappers 
were organized into a well armed body in order to repel 
the attacks of Indians, who bitterly resisted the attempts 
of white men to trap beavers on the waters of the Gila 
or its tributaries. 

The party proceeded directly to Salt River, one of the 
affluents to the Rio Gila, upon reaching which they were 
attacked by a body of Indians, but the engagement was 
short and decisive. The Indians were routed with severe 
loss, leaving eleven of their number dead on the ground, 
their flight being too hasty to permit of carrying the fallen 
ones with them. This was Carson's first Indian fight, 
but he displayed the rare presence of mind and cool de- 
cision of character which at once furnished the true index 
to the success of his subsequent adventures. 

After trapping with much success on the Salt and San 
Francisco rivers, the company broke (amp and divided, 
one portion returning to Santa Fe and the other, eighteen 
in number, including Carson, started for the Sacramento 
Valley, California. In this dreary journey, rendered 
mora difficult by the dry deserts through which the route 
lav, the party Buffered greatly for want of both food and 
water. So reduced did they become before reaching 
their destination that availing themselves of the last re- 
source, they killed several of their horses, drinking the 
blood and consuming the flesh of the faithful animals. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 465 

Reaching the beautiful valley of the Sacramento, after 
weeks of exhausting effort, they began trapping again for 
beaver, in which occupation they spent several months 
most profitably. 

Shortly before the close of the trapping season a band 
of Digger Indians came upon the party during the night 
and succeeded in driving off nearly all their horses, flee- 
ing with the animals to the mountains. The Mohave In- 
dians at the mission of San Gabriel, with whom the trap- 
pers had been maintaining commercial intercourse, kindly 
loaned the party the necessary number of horses to pur- 
sue the dusky thieves. Carson, though scarcely twenty 
years of age, had nevertheless demonstrated his marvel- 
ous abilities as a fighter, and to him was entrusted the 
leadership of the expedition for the recovery of the stolen 
horses. Accordingly, selecting eleven of his comrades, 
and leaving the remainder to protect the camp and pel- 
tries, he started after the marauding Indians without hav- 
ing the slightest idea of their number. But discovering 
the trail soon after, no room for doubt was left that the 
band comprised not less than one hundred savages. But 
this fact did not deter him in his previously formed reso- 
lution, for he advanced with all possible speed through 
valleys and over mountains until the fresh trail admonish- 
ed him to move more cautiously. More than a hundred 
miles from the trapper's camp the red skins were discov- 
ered during a late hour in the afternoon, just as they were 
going into camp for the night. 

Having located the Indians and taken careful note of 
the surroundings, the time had now come for an exhibi- 
tion of Carson's abilities. Twelve men set over against 
a hundred furnished an inequality which could only be 
compensated by extraordinary cunning and complete sur- 
prise. Kit was was fully equal to the occasion, and his 



46 G HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

comrades having perfect confidence in the dexterity and 
capacity of their leader were prompt in obedience to his 
orders. 

Carson disposed his men in such a manner that, while 
they remained concealed from view, they could yet read- 
ily distinguish every movement of the Indians ; ascertain 
the location of sentinels and the weak points in the camp. 
Maintaining this position, the party awaited the approach 
of midnight before making an attack, the wisdom of 
which decision was determined in the result. Their pur- 
pose was assisted by the pall of darkness which fell on 
the landscape, rendering objects almost invisible except 
by a concentration of vision, and a previous knowledge 
of the position occupied by the object sought. The In- 
dians, pot anticipating the presence of foes, were not on 
their guard, while the little band of determined men led 
by Carson were directed by the knowledge they had 
gained before night came on. 

When the auspicious hour had arrived Carson led his 
men in a careful detour, until having approached to the 
position it was necessary to first reach, he made a dash, 
followed by the others, directly through the Indian camp, 
shooting into the tents as they sped by, and whooping 
with such vigor that the horse thieves evidently believed 
they had been surprised by an entire tribe of native en- 
emies. The direst confusion followed this sudden attack, 
and as the greatest advantage was now offered, Carson 
and his men rushed on to the corral, where they found 
the Indians' horses tethered. These they speedily re- 
leased and then stampeded, affording the party means 
of escape during the confusion, for Carson's good 
judgment told him that after the first tremor of surprise 
had run through the camp his enemies would recover 
their scattered senses and not only give battle but fol- 
low hard in pursuit. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 4 1)7 

Directing his men to secure at least one extra horse, 
some time was spent chasing the flying ponies over the 
mountains, but the darkness prevented the party from 
capturing any of the stampeded animals until the follow- 
ing day, when thirty head were secured, and the trappers 
then returned to their companions, who had been op- 
pressed with grave fears for their safety, and hailed their 
return with many manifestations of joy. 

Shortly after this event the trappers, still accompanied 
by Mr. Young as the leader, broke camp, and with an 
immense quantity of beaver skins returned to Santa Fe 
over the same route they had passed in going to the 
Sacramento and Jan Jose valleys. These products of 
their labors they disposed of, and upon a division of the 
proceeds, each man in the party was given $500 as his 
share.* In possession of so much money, Carson was 
unable to restrain his bent for indulging freely in the 
•dissipations peculiar to Mexican towns, and during this 
period of hilarious intercourse with the rude natives he 
became involved in a desperate street brawl, which 
terminated by his flight after having killed one of his 
opponents. 

Being forced to leave New Mexico, owing to the nu- 
merous threats made against his life, Carson proceeded 
toward Missouri, but meeting a party of trappers under 
James Fitzpatriek, he joined them in a journey to Utah. 
For a time the party trapped on the Platte, Sweet Water, 
Goose and Salmon rivers, but with indifferent success ; 
besides, the Blackf eet Indians gave them constant anxiety, 
as the tribe was a very numerous and hostile one, whose 
delight was in massacreing the whites. 

In the spring of 1830 Kit Carson and four others left 
Mr. Fitzpatriek' s party, and proceeded to New Park, on 
the headwaters of the Arkansas, where they continued 

28 



4«38 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

trapping in the company of Captain John Yount and 
twenty others, until the return of spring the following 
year. While wintering in camp a band of sixty Crow 
Indians robbed the party of several horses, to recapture 
which Carson was dispatched with fifteen men after the 
robbers. 

Taking up the trail he followed the Indians until he 
found them entrenched behind a rude fortification of logs 
with their horses tied within ten feet of their shelter. 
Carson gave his men no time to reflect on the rashness 
of his undertaking, but ordering an immediate charge, 
rushed upon the protected savages, nor did he stop until 
he had seized the horses and led them triumphantly away. 
In this attack three of Carson's men were killed, but they 
were brought away, while five of the Indians were slain, 
one of whom was scalped by Carson himself. 

Shortly after this daring attack, Carson and Captain 
Yount' s men were surprised by a force of two hundred 
Crow Indians, and the fleetness of their horses alone 
saved them from a massacre. The attack having been 
made, after due preparation by the Indians, they pos- 
sessed all the advantages, not only in numbers, but 
also in effective fi<>;htmi>;. No other recourse was there- 
fore left Capt. Yount's party but to retreat and trust to 
the fleetness of their horses for escape. The flight con- 
tinued under a rain of arrows and bullets for nearly fifty 
miles, the Indians being determined to possess themselves 
of the scalps and property of the little band of whites. 
Several of the party were killed, but Carson escaped 
with only a slight wound. Had all the Indians been 
armed with rifles not one of the men would have escaped, 
but being able to keep a considerable distance in advance 
of their pursuers, the range was too great for the effec- 
tive use of arrow-, and the few rifles the Indians pos- 
sessed did all the execution. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 469 



CHAPTER II. 

Early in the spring of 1832 Captain Yount's party hav- 
ing met with little success during the past season, Car- 
son decided to begin trapping on his own account. He 
therefore settled with the Captain, but before starting for 
the new trapping grounds two others connected with Cap- 
tain Yount expressed their desire to accompany him, 
which companionship Carson gladly accepted. The three 
proceeded up the streams into Colorado — or what is now 
known as Colorado — where they found the beaver more 
abundant, and there pursued their labors with consider- 
able profit for nearly a year. Returning to Taos with 
their furs they sold out to much advantage, and imme- 
diately afterward Carson joined Capt. Lee in an expedi- 
tion up Green river. 

Capt. Lee's company consisted of thirty trappers un- 
der the direction of an old mountaineer named Robideau. 
This experienced trapper had engaged the services of a 
young California Indian as a guide and interpreter, such 
native assistant being rendered necessary by the hostile 
character of roving Indians which the trappers were con- 
stantly meeting. 

In the following October, 1833, while the party was 
encamped on a tributary of Green river and meeting with 
much success catching both beaver and otter, the young 
Indian guide contrived to clandestinely secure six of the 
best horses belonging to the company, and made his es- 
cape. The theft was soon discovered, and Kit Carson, 
who had now become a renowned "thief -catcher," was 
deputed to recover the stolen animals. 

The thieving red skin having had several hours the 
start, and Carson being little acquainted with the country, 



470 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

fie procured the services of a Utah Indian to assist him in 
tracing the figitive. 

The trail was not definitely determined until the second 
day after Kit and his companion had started out, but 
once they became certain of the discovery the speed at 
which their pursuit was conducted, after one hundred 
miles had been made, disabled the Utah Indian's horse so 
that he could proceed no further, and being unwilling to 
accompany Kit on foot, returned again to the camp of 
his tribe. Carson, however, not to be deterred in his un- 
dertaking, pressed on alone and after a half-day's further 
ride discovered the thieving Indian riding one of the stolen 
horses and leading the five others. Almost at the same 
moment that Carson sighted the Indian the fugitive also 
saw his pursuer, and a fight to the death each realized was 
inevitable. The Indian, who carried a rifle and was re- 
garded as an excellent shot, besides being possessed of 
the courage to make his skill in an encounter most effec- 
tive, leaped from his horse and sought shelter. Kit fully 
comprehended the tactics of the Indian, and the distance 
being great between them he concluded to hazard a shot, 
knowing that he could reload before the Indian could 
reach him, especially since he was mounted. Therefore, 
stopping his horse, Kit drew a bead on the Indian as ho 
was making for a tree, and fired. The aim was so perfect 
•that the thief fell forward dead, with a bullet through his 
body. This sho( was in a measure accidental, for the 
distance was fully three hundred yards, and the Indian 
being at the lime in a brisk run the aim was rendered 
more doubtful . 

The six horses were recovered and returned to the 
cainp after an absence of six days, and for his services 
Captain Lee and Robideau presented Carson with a large 
quantity of peltries, which made the incident one of great 
profit to him. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 471 

In the following year, 1834, Carson, in company with 
three excellent companions, concluded to spend a season 
trapping on the Laramie, a stream reputed to be fairly 
alive with beaver, otter and mink. The expectations of 
the party were fully realized a few weeks later, when they 
had pitched their tents on the banks of that clear, but 
sometimes doubtful river. In fact during all of Carson's 
experience as a trapper, he never met with success equal 
to that which he found on the Laramie. 

On one occasion, while he was acting as hunter, during 
this most profitable season, to obtain a fresh supply of 
meat, he met with an adventure so full of peril that he 
never afterward entertained the least desire to be similarly 
situated. Game of every kind was very abundant, and 
within a mile of the camp he killed a large elk, but as he 
was proceeding to cut its throat, suddenly there appeared, 
coming toward him, a species of game for which he had 
not been hunting. A large grizzly bear, one of the most 
ferocious and dreadful denizens of North American forests, 
moved by hunger, resolved, apparently, to make the hun- 
ter its victim. Time was just now very precious to Kit, 
so that he made all possible use of his extremities in 
reaching the nearest tree, leaving his unloaded gun lying 
beside the animal he had just killed. The bear, not dis- 
covering the dead elk, made directly for Kit, who man- 
aged, but just how he was never able to tell, to ascend a 
goodly sized tree in time to save himself from the vora- 
cious maw of the terrible beast. But his perch appeared 
decidedly unsafe, as the bear would rear up almost to the 
limb on which he was seated, opening its mighty jaws 
and blowing hot gusts of air through teeth nearly as long 
as a man's finger. At every lunge it made Kit felt that 
the bear would surely reach him, and he would involun- 
tarily hitch up his legs while all the flesh would crawl a* 



472 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



though it were trying to get on top of his head. Grab- 
bing about for something with which to defend himself, 
he twisted off a branch from the tree, and this he dex- 
terously used in striking the nose of the grizzly whenever 
it reached up its head uncomfortably close. This so en- 




Treed by a Hungry Grizzly. 

raged the brute that it fell to gnawing the body of the 

tree, but being able to make hut little impression, aban- 
doned that and began growling with a fierceness which 
made Kit quake with the most direful anticipations. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 473 

The bear kept him a prisoner in the tree until nearly 
midnight, when it began to circle around the spot, grad- 
ually extending the circle until it at length scented the 
dead elk, upon which it speedily gorged itself, and then 
disappeared in the woods. Kit got down from his anxious 
seat speculating on the probabilities of the bear's return, 
and though every bone in his body seemed to be splitting 
from the strain to which he had been subjected, he nev- 
ertheless made excellent speed toward the camp. His 
comrades had become very much alarmed at his pro- 
longed absence, and a safe return fully compensated them 
for their beaver supper, from which unsavory game they 
had been compelled to satisfy their hunger in the ab- 
sence of more desirable meat. 

After collecting several hundred valuable peltries, Car- 
son and his companions went to Santa Fe, where the pro- 
duct of their season's trapping was disposed of satisfac- 
torily. But Kit did not remain idle more than a few 
days, for he soon found opportunity of joining another 
party of fifty men bound for the Blackfeet country, on 
the Upper Missouri. The trip was a long and tedious 
one, and in the end proved not only unprofitable but dis- 
astrous to several of the men, including Kit himself, 
for they had struck a country in which none of them had 
ever been before, and to add to their other hardships 
they had penetrated a section of country held by a tribe 
of the most treacherous and cruel Indians on the fron- 
tier, which made eternal watchfulness the price of their 
safety. 

Shortly after the encampment of the party on Big 
Snake river, a band of Blackfeet stampeded the horses 
of the whites and stole eighteen of their best animals. 
Carson, to whom the whole company looked for needful 
assistance, at once proposed pursuit, and taking twenty 



47-1 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



of the best men in the expedition, set out after the 
thieves. A heavy snow covered the ground, which made 
the trail easy to follow until on the succeeding night, 
when another fall of snow began to rapidly obliterate the 
tracks. The pursuit was continued with all possible 
speed until the trail had become so nearly extinct that 
Kit and another experienced trailer named Markland had 
to leave their horses from time to time during the night 
and search for the tracks by the aid of small torches. 




Hunting the Trail. 

The party rode for a distance of seventy-five miles, the 
latter half of the journey being made through extraor- 
dinary difficulties, before they came in sight of the In- 
dians. The thieving Blackfeet, numbering about forty 
warriors, discovered their pursuers, but instead of trying 
to escape, stopped and desired a parley with the trappers, 
which, being consented to, some time was spent in speech- 
making and pipe-smoking:. The Indians declared that 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 475 

they had no intention of wronging the whites, and had 
taken the horses because they thought the animals be- 
longed to the Snake Indians, their enemies. But with 
all their protestations of friendship, they still refused to 
deliver up the stolen animals. An attempt was then 
made by the trappers to take their property by force, 
which brought on the fight which Kit had anticipated. 

The Indians were armed chiefly with bows and arrows, 
but a few of them had rifles, which they had obtained at 
various trading posts. The Indians, therefore, while 
twice as many in number as the trappers, were not nearly 
so well armed, and the fighting advantages were about 
equal. Every man, red and white alike, sought the pro- 
tection of trees and carried on the battle with all the 
cunning available. Carson and Marklaud were bosom 
companions and fought from adjacent shelters. It 
chanced that they were directly opposed by two swarthy 
warriors, each of whom was also armed with a rifle. As 
Kit sought opportunity to fire at his antagonist he dis- 
covered another Indian in the act of taking a deadly aim 
at Marklaud, who was unconscious of his own danger. 
Kit instantly turned his weapon on the Indian and shot 
him dead, thereby saving his comrade's life ; but in this 
commendable act he came near sacrificing his own life, for 
the Indian he had been previously watching fired, the 
bullet striking Kit in the left shoulder, shattering the 
bone and making a terrible wound. The fight contin- 
ued with unabated fury until nightfall, when the Indians 
drew off, taking their stolen property with them. 

Carson was found by his companions lying in the snow 
perfectly conscious, but refusing to make any manifesta- 
tion of the great suffering he was enduring. He had 
gathered his coat in a lump at the shoulder, trying to 
staunch the flow of blood which had saturated the cloth- 



476 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ing on his left side. The cold had at last stopped the 
ebbing life current, but not until he was so. weak that it 
became necessary to carry him back over the long route 
and through the deep snow to the trappers' camp. Three 
others of the party were killed and four wounded, but 
those that were injured were fortunately able to ride. It 
was a terrible journey to Kit, but he endured his suffer- 
ings with such fortitude that those who ministered to his 
needs could not comprehend how severe was the pain he 
felt. 

Upon their return to camp, Capt. Bridger took thirty 
men and started out again after the depredating Black- 
feet, but though he beat the country for more than a 
week, he was unable to find the trail, and so returned 
without accomplishing anything. 

Soon after this unfortunate incident in the season on 
Big Snake river, the party left that immediate section 
and camped on Green river, where they were joined by a 
large party of Frenchmen and Canadians who were trap- 
ping for the Hudson Bay Fur Company. The camp, by 
these accessions, numbered about one hundred men, a force 
sufficient to afford some security against hostile Indians. 

Carson was not long in establishing a most favorable 
reputation among the men, because, while some in the 
party knew how courageously he had always deported 
himself in moments of extreme peril, they all soon Learned 
that under all circumstances he remained courteous and 
obliging, hence he was esteemed by all in the party. 

Among the number of imported trappers was a large 
Frenchman named Shuinan ; a man particularly fond of 
bad whisky, and who delighted in bullying his companions. 
He was rarely engaged in a light himself, because his ar- 
rogant boasts had intimidated nearly all the men, but not 
content with his own autocratic domineering, he found 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 477 

pleasure iu creating discord and embroiling comrades. 
On one occasion, while riding about the camp with gun 
in hand, Shuman, among other indiscriminate insults, 
began a tirade of abuse directed against the Americans, 
pronouncing them scullions and chicken-livered scoun- 
drels, who merited nothing but threshings with hickory 
withes for their cowardice and villainy. This unprovoked 
language aroused the spirit of Carson, who stepped for- 
ward toward the boasting Frenchman and said : 

"I am an American, and no coward; but you are a 
vapid bully, and to show you how Americans can punish 
liars, I'll fight you here in any manner your infamous 
aeart may desire . ' ' 

Shuman fairly boiled over with rage at this proposi- 
tion from a man so far inferior to him in size ; besides 
he had never before had his privilege of abusing the men 
questioned. He therefore replied : 

"If you want to be killed I have no objections to 
shooting you as I would a dog. Get on your horse and 
fight me, starting at one hundred yards and riding toward 
each other, firing as we come together. Come on, you 
pale-faced little scullion !" 

Kit returned no answer to this arrogant acceptance of 
his challenge, but mounting his horse he prepared for the 
duel. The two first rode apart, each divining the purpose 
of the other, until a proper distance was reached, when 
they wheeled their horses as if entering a race course 
under stipulations, and rushed toward each other. The 
entire camp was, of course, speedily apprised of the duel, 
and every trapper came out to witness the combat, the 
sympathies of the men being unanimously with Carson. 
Shuman was an excellent rifleman and had trained him- 
self to fire from his running horse by shooting buffaloes, 
and he therefore felt confident of putting a bullet through 



478 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



the head of his adversary. Kit carried a pistol, but this 
was from choice, as he was an expert with this weapon. 
The two determined men rushed toward each other like 
the knights of mediaeval chivalry, until within a few yards, 
when Shuman raised himself in his stirrups, and, taking 
aim, tired. The bullet went so close to the mark that a 
lock of Kit's hair was seen to fall, cut from above his 
ear. But the aim, though good, had not dispatched a fatal 
messenger, and Shuman was compelled to take Kit's tire. 



fl-=?~i~'j. "~ V^v- 




Carson's Duel with the Frenchman. 



The smoke from the Frenchman's rifle whs still rolling 
away over his head when Carson presented his pistol 
almost as the heads of the two horses came together, and 
saluted his enemy. The ball struck Shuman in the hand, 
and passing upward in the arm, lodged near the elbow. 
Though ii"! fatal, the wound was sufficient to thoroughly 
humble the desperado, and so change his disposition as 
to eliminate nil braggadocio from his character. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 479 



CHAPTER III. 



Soon after this incident the party of trappers returned 
to New Mexico, and there Carson joined Capt. McCoy, 
who was outfitting for another expedition to the Yellow- 
stone, in the Blackfeet country. This party, consisting 
of a dozen men, upon arriving at the Yellowstone, found 
no signs of either beaver or otter ; so breaking camp, 
they set out to hunt a stream affording reasonable expec- 
tations for success. They continued to travel through a 
country supporting nothing but artemesia, which barely 
subsisted their horses, until all their provisions were 
exhausted and starvation seriously threatened the whole 
party. 

Day after day went by and still neither game nor grass 
roots could be found until at length they were reduced to 
such dreadful extremities that to prevent death from star- 
vation they bled their horses and drank the blood. Hap- 
pily, when it was decided to kill one of the horses for its 
flesh, a body of Snake Indians appeared, from whom a fat 
pony was purchased and this the party killed and subsist- 
ed upon until they reached Ft. Hall 

After a rest of several days Carson, McCoy and the 
other members of the party equipped themselves for an- 
other trapping expedition, this time intending to plant 
their traps on Green river, but on arriving at that stream 
another party of nearly one hundred men was found 
who, meeting with no success, were preparing to leave 
for the head waters of the Yellowstone, and if finding no 
game there had arranged to follow up to the Missouri 
river sources. 

A consolidation was made between the two parties, who 
now selected Carson and Mr. Fontenelle as their leaders. 



480 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

This union of forces was made more as a precaution against 
the Blackfeet Indians, who were very numerous and vin- 
dictive in the Yellowstone country. 

The winter, which was very severe, was passed among 
the Crow Indians, who were well provided with large 
lodges made of buffalo hides ; some of these were twenty 
feet in diameter with an opening at the top which served 
as a chimney to permit the smoke from the fire inside to 
escape. But it was difficult to provide food for the trap- 
pers' horses, owing to a deep snow which covered the 
ground during the entire winter. It was necessary to 
feed their horses on bark stripped from cottonwood trees, 
and twigs of willow, a collection of which involved almost 
constant work. 

When spring appeared the trappers started out to be- 
gin operations, but their first attempts were discovered 
by the Blackfeet, who, though greatly reduced in num- 
bers by small-pox which had raged among them during 
the winter, were still a powerful tribe. Carson, with 
forty men, was attacked at their traps and it was only by 
the most desperate fighting that they saved themselves 
from annihilation. The Indians were kept in check until 
the trappers' ammunition was almost exhausted, when a 
retreat was made back toward the camp. During this 
movement a horse bearing one of the trappers stumbled 
and fell in such a manner that the rider was caught and 
held to the earth by the weight of the animal. Five In- 
dians immediately jumped forward to scalp the unlucky 
rider; seeing which Carson wheeled back to the aid of 
his comrade. lie shot the foremost Indian and held the 
others at bay until the trapper was released, and being 
taken up behind ('arson the two escaped. 

It was not long before the other trappers, who had gone 
off in a southeasterly direction to place their traps, hear- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



481 



ing the firing, ran to the rescue of Carson's party. With 
a fresh supply of ammunition and reinforced by sixty 
men, Carson turned on the Indians and the fight was re- 
newed with great earnestness bv both sides. The Indians 




Kit Carson Saves his Fallen Comrade. 

were at last defeated with a loss of so many of their 
warriors that they beat a retreat and never afterward mo- 
lested the victorious trappers. 



482 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

After prosecuting their operations for two months, a 
large number of peltries were secured, and the expedi- 
tion then broke camp and repaired to the trading post op 
Nend River, where the skins were sold at a large profit. 

Carson's next enterprise was in trapping for beaver on 
the streams flowing from the Rocky Mountains into Great 
Salt Lake. He took with him only a single companion, 
believing he could operate more successfullv without be- 
ing restricted by the limitations of a large party, as the 
Utah Indians regarded him with friendly feelings but op- 
posed the invasion of their territory by any considerable 
number of white men. 

It was while trapping in this section that he met with 
an adventure of a truly thrilling character. He was 
walking along the bank of a stream where many of his 
traps were set, while his companion was back in camp pre- 
paring supper. Carson had a large rifle with him, as was 
his custom, and seeing a turkey strutting along a few 
yards in advance, was preparing to shoot it when his in- 
tention was directed to a pair of fierce e}^cs gleaming from 
out the roots of a great tree. It was scarcely 1 went y feet 
away, and a moment's inspection convinced him that he 
was in the presence of a powerful mountain lion. Tore- 
treat he knew would have invited the attack he felt was 
about to be made, so raising his rifle he fired, but there 
was such a profusion of snake-like roots surrounding the 
lion's body that his shot resulted only in an exasperating 
wound, as it struck the annual in the left shoulder. In 
the nexl instanl the lion was upon him, roaring like its 
ancestral kith of African jungles. Carson had no other 
weapon now save the large knife he carried, and with 
this he defended himself most valiantly. But the sharp 
poniard-like claws of the ferocious beast penetrated his 
flesh and cut like a two-edged sword. Carson's shirt 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



483 



wbs ripped off liim and while lie slashed with his knife 
and thrust it to the hilt time and again in the lion's body, 
the infuriated animal still fought with such success that, 
weakened by the loss of so much blood, Carson was fair- 




Carson's Fight with a Mexican Lion. 
ly on the point of yielding. But it is hard to give up 
lite, and this universal human feeling impelled Kit to use 
his last energies in this terrible contest. Fortune at last 
favored him, for the lion also much exhausted, fell under 

2<» 



484 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



one of Carson's blows and as it rolled onto its back with 
its dreadful fangs still fastened in the remnants of Kit's 
tattered shirt, a plunge of the knife deep into the ani- 
mal's throat, severing its head almost from the body, de- 
termined the battle in Carson's favor. 

But the victory was purchased at great expense, for 
the wounded trapper was so overcome by the lacerations 
of his flesh and sinews that he fainted and would undoubt- 
edly have died had not his comrade in camp, alarmed at 
his long absence, instituted a search which resulted in the 

discovery of the bleeding and 
unconscious body of his com- 
panion tying beside the dead 
lion. Kit was carried back to 
the camp and given all the care 
that one true and anxious com- 
rade can give another. This 
tender and excellent treatment 
renewed the life so near ex- 
hausted, and after a month of 
dangerous suspension between 
life and death, Carson began to 
recover rapidly, and in another 
month was able to renew his 
labors. After returning from 
his trapping expedition in Utah, 
which, despite his terrible fight 
with the mountain lion, had 
proved a profitable one, Carson 
id tuned to New Mexico and 
there made an engagement with 
Messrs. Bent and St. Vrain to 
hunt and supply the garrison at 
Bent's Fort with meat. It was during this occupation that 




Kit Carson's Indian Wife. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 485 

he married an Indian girl belonging to the Comanche tribe. 
This union was severed ten months after by the singular 
devotion of the Indian wife, who, learning of Carson's 
illness at Ft. Hall, immediately mounted a horse and rode 
the one hundred miles that separated her from him, in 
twelve hours. This exertion, which was made within 
two weeks after she had given birth to a daughter, brought 
on fever, from which she died in a few days. 

Carson sincerely mourned the loss of his young wife, 
who, though she was an Indian, possessed many noble 
qualities of heart, not the least being her soul-absorbing 
love for her husband. 

The little girl baby was well cared for by a Mexican 
family, and lived and grew under their Ivind treatment. 
Five years after the death of his wife Kit visited St. 
Louis, taking his child with him for the purpose of plac- 
ing her in an educational institution, that she might have 
the advantages of excellent schooling and training. The 
little girl developed into a stately and beautiful woman, 
and when twenty years of age she married a gentleman 
in St. Louis, named Boggs, who is at this time a resident 
of Los Animos, Colorado, where Kit Carson, Jr., also 
has his handsome residence. 

When Carson arrived in St. Louis, he was received with 
public demonstrations of delight, and there were none too 
great or rich to pay him homage, as he had long been re- 
garded as "The Monarch of the Plains." 

At the time of this visit it chanced that Gen. John C. 
Fremont was in the city, organizing an expedition for 
exploring that part of the country lying between Missouri 
and the Rocky Mountains. Although this was his orig- 
inal intention , the General made the overland trip to Cal- 
ifornia, and included in his report all the explorations 
along the entire route. 



486 HEROES OF THE l'LAINS. 

Gen. Fremont sent for Carson, as soon as the presence 
of the great trapper became known to him , and a long inter- 
view between them resulted in the employment of Carson 
as chief guide to the expedition, which left St. Louis by 
steamer the 22d day of May, 1842. The other members 
of the exploring party consisted of twenty-one men, 
principally Creoles, Charles Preuso, first assistant in the 
topographical survey, and Louis Maxwell, of Kaskaskia, 
Illinois, who was engaged as hunter. 

The expedition disembarked from the steamer at the 
mouth of Kansas river, and then struck across the broad 
prairies of Kansas on to the Platte river, for the explora- 
tion of which a large rubber boat was carried with them, 
which was very useful on several occasions. From the 
South Platte they followed the Oregon trail past Fort 
Laramie, and from thence on to the Rocky Mountains. 

Just before leaving the Platte, the monotony of the 
journey was relieved by a grand buffalo hunt, which Gen. 
Fremont describes as follows : 

"As we were riding quietly along the bank, a great 
herd of buffalo, some seven or eight hundred in number, 
came crowding up from the river, where they had been 
to drink, and commenced crossing the plain slowly, eat- 
ing as they went. The wind was favorable ; the coolness 
of the morning invited to exercise ; the ground was ap- 
parently good, and the distance across the praire (two or 
three miles) gave us a fine opportunity to charge them 
before they could get among the river hills. It was too 
fine a prospect fcr a chase to be lost ; and halting for a 
few moments, the hunting horses were brought up and 
saddled and Kit Carson, Maxwell and I started together. 
The buffaloes were now somewhat less than half a mile 
distant, and we rode easily along until within about three 
hundred yards, when a sudden agitation, a wavery in the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 487 

herd, and a galloping to and fro of some which were 
scattered along the skirts, gave us the intimation that we 
were discovered. We now started together at a hard 
gallop, riding steadily abreast of each other, and here 
the interest of the chase became so engrossingly intense 
that we were sensible to nothing else. We were closing 
upon them rapidly, and the front of the mass was already 
in rapid motion. 

"A crowd of bulls, as usual, brought up the rear, and 
every now and then some of them faced about, and then 
dashed on after the herd, and then turned and looked 
again as if more than half inclined to stand and fight. 
In a few moments, however, during which we had been 
quickening our pace, the rout was universal, and we were 
going; over the ground like a hurricane. When at about 
thirty yards, we gave the usual shout (the hunters pas 
de charge), and broke into the herd. We entered on the 
side, the mass giving way in every direction in their 
heedless course. Many of the bulls, less active and less 
fleet than the cows, paying no attention to the ground, 
and occupied solely with the hunter, were precipitated to 
the earth with great force, rolling over and over with the 
violence of the shock, and hardly distinguishable in the 
dust. We separated on entering the herd, each singling 
out his own game. 

"My horse was a trained hunter, famous in the West 
under the name of Provean, and with his eyes flashing, 
and the foam flying from his mouth, sprang on after the 
cow I was pursuing like a hungry tiger. In a few mo- 
ments he brought me alongside of her, and rising in the 
stirrups, I fired at the distance of a yard, the ball enter- 
ing at the termination of the long hair, and passing near 
the heart. She fell headlong at the report of the gun, 
and, checking my horse, I looked around for my com- 
panions. 



488 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

" At a little distance Kit was on the ground engaged in 
tying his horse to the horns of a cow, which he was pre- 
paring to cut up. Among the scattered bands at some 
distance below I caught a glimpse of Maxwell, and while 
I was looking a light wreath of white smoke curled away 
from his gun, from which I was too far to hear the re- 
port. Nearer and between me and the hills was the body 
of the herd, and giving my horse the reins we dashed after 
them. A thick cloud of dust hung upon their rearwhich 
filled my mouth and eyes and nearly smothered me. In 
the midst of this I could see nothing and the buffaloes 
were not distinguishable until within thirty feet. 

' ' They crowded together more densely still as I came 
upon them and rushed along in such a compact body that 
I could not obtain an entrance — the horse almost leaping 
upon them. In a few moments the mass divided to the 
right and left, the horns clattering with a noise above ev- 
erything else, and my horse darted into the opening. 

" Five or six bulls charged on us as we dashed along 
the line, but were left far behind, and singling out a cow 
I gave her my fire, but struck too high. She gave a tre- 
mendous leap and scoured on swifter than before. I 
reined up my horse and the band swept on like a torrent 
and left the place quiet and clear. Our chase had led us 
into dangerous ground, a prairie-dog village, so thickly 
settled that there were three or four holes in every twen^ 
ty yards square, occupying the wholo bottom for nearly 
two miles in length." 

"While Gen. Fremont was making his second attack on 
the herd, Carson left the buffalo which he had killed and 
partly cut up to pursue a large bull that came rushing by 
him alone. lie chased the game for nearly a quarter of 
a mile, not being able to gain rapidly owing to the blown 
condition of his horse. Coming up at length to the side 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



489 



of the fleeing buffalo Carson fired, but at the same instant 
his horse stepped into a prairie-dog hole, going down ana 
throwing Kit over his head fully fifteen feet. The bullet 
struck the buffalo low under the shoulder, which only- 




Carson and the Wounded Buffalo. 

served to so enrage him that the next moment the infuri- 
ated animal was pursuing Kit, who, fortunately not much 
hurt, was able to run toward the river. It was a race for 1 i f e 



4D0 IIEHOES OF THE PLAINS. 

now, Carson using his nimble heels to the utmost of their 
capacity, accelerated very much by the thundering, bel- 
lowing bull bringing up the rear. For several minutes it 
was nip and tuck which should reach the Platte river first, 
but Kit got there by a scratch a little in advance. It was 
a big stream, and deep water under the bank, but heavens ! 
it was paradise indeed compared with the hades plunging 
at his back, so Kit Leaped into the water trusting to Prov- 
idence that the bull would not follow. The trust was 
well placed for the bull did not continue the pursuit, but 
stood on the bank and shook his fists — head — vehemently 
at the struggling hunter, who preferred deep waves to the 
horns of a dilemma on shore. 

Kit swam around for some time, carefully guarded by 
the bull, until his position was observed by Maxwell, who 
attacked the belligerent animal successfully with a No. 44 
slug, and then Kit crawled out and — skinned the enemy. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Carson continued with Fremont until the expedition re- 
turned to Laramie, after Fremont's ascent to the summit 
of the loftiest peak in the Rocky Mountain range. Upon 
leaving the expedition Carson returned to New Mexico, 
where, in L843, lie contracted a second marriage, espous- 
ing a Mexican lady, with whom he lived happily for many 
years, and who gave him two children, a boy and a girl, 
the former, Kit Carson, Jr., reaching manhood, but the 
daughter died while younsr. 

( larson engaged his services again to Bent & St. Vrain, 
for whom he hunted and acted as courier, until, learning 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 491 

that Fremont had started out on a second expedition of 
exploration, and was within two days' journey of Ft. 
Bent, he decided to visit him. When Carson came into 
General — then Lieutenant — Fremont's presence, the lat- 
ter, after greeting him with great warmth, said : 

"Carson, you are the man, of all others, I am most 
delighted to see. If I had known your address I should 
certainly have communicated my desire to have you ac- 
company me on the present expedition ; but since I am 
so fortunate as to meet you at my camp, your services, I 
trust, will be given me." 

Carson had not thought of accompanying Fremont, 
but being offered a good salary, he gave his consent. 
First returning to Ft. Bent for a number of mules, which 
Fremont required, he came back to the rendezvous, after 
which, heading the cavalcade, the expedition moved 
westward for the Sacramento Valley. 

On the 21st of August, 1844, the party of hardy ad- 
venturers reached Bear river, and descending that stream 
twenty miles, they came upon the Great Salt Lake, which 
Fremont, in company with Carson and two other mem- 
bers of the expedition, circumnavigated in their rubber 
boat. From this point the journey was continued until 
Nez Perce was reached, which was a trading post estab- 
lished by the Hudson Bay Fur Company in Northern 
California. This was the western limit of Fremont's 
journey, as at this point a connection was made with 
Commander Wilkes, who had completed the survey east- 
ward from San Francisco. 

After a rest of several days, Fremont sent Carson to 
the Dalles, with instructions to prepare a number of 
pack-saddles, blankets, provisions and other things need- 
ful for a long expedition during the winter, having deter- 
mined to start back upon his return journey at once. 



492 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Notwithstanding the fact that it was now almost mid- 
winter, the bold explorer had decided to pass through a 
new section of country, thereby adding to his discover- 
ies, upon the return. He therefore chose a route which 
would take him, first, to Tlamath Lake, and from there 
by a southeast course to the Great Basin ; thence to the 
Buenaventura river, and from thence to the Rocky Moun- 
tains, at the headwaters of the Arkansas, and then 
strike Bent's Fort, from which place the government 
trail would betaken for St. Louis. 

This projected route for the return journey, or at least 
a greater portion of it, was practically terra incognita to 
white men, and therefore concealed obstacles which put 
to the severest test man's powers of endurance. 

The entire party consisted of twenty-five persons, com- 
prising six distinct nationalities, several of them being 
under age, one of whom, a son of Hon. Thos. H. Ben- 
ton, was only a lad. But provision having been made, 
the journey was begun about the latter part of Decem- 
ber with light hearts and joyous anticipations. Two 
Indian guides were engaged at Vancouver's to conduct 
the party through to Tlamath Lake, which proved to be 
only a shallow basin containing a little, water when 
the snows were melting during spring-time. From this 
lake they started for Mary's Lake without any guide 
save the compasses they carried. This journey brought 
them into a land of desolation, in which several perished 
from cold and starvation, their pack animals were lost, and 
progress made only by carving a highway through snow 
often twenty feet in depth. But as Gen. Fremont has 
himself graphically described the perils and terrible 
hardships of this expedition while searching for Mary's 
Lake and Buenaventura river, it is useless to repeat the 
incidents of the expedition here. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 493 

Fort Sutter was not reached until the 6th of March, 
at which time the horses belonging to the expedition had 
been reduced from sixty-seven to thirty-three, from which, 
and considering the men who died and were lost, the terri- 
ble, almost unparalleled sufferings of the men in this unfor- 
tunate expedition may be approximated by the reader. 
Those of the party who reached Sutter were so reduced 
by privations they had suffered on the dreary route that 
each man was little more than an animate skeleton of 
skin and bone, and their horses were so poor and weak 
that not one could bear the burden of a rider, so that 
they had to be led. 



CHAPTER V. 

Upon returning from this second expedition, Carson 
again settled at Taos, and in the spring of 1845 was com- 
pleting arrangements with a partner named Owens to 
start a sheep ranche. But before he became fully en- 
gaged in raising sheep, Fremont had projected a third 
expedition, and for the third time called for Carson's 
services. The two had become warmly attached to each 
other on their previous trips together, and an admiration 
for Fremont influenced Carson to again follow his old 
commander. 

The journey of this last expedition lay through the 
same country over which they had passed previously, but 
while there was no lack of suffering on this trip the par- 
ty experienced few trials to be compared with those met 
with before. After reaching Sutter's Fort the expedi- 
tion recruited and marched toward Monterey, but were met 



494 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



en ronte by Gen. Castro at the head of fom *.wfidrvd Mes , 
icans,who opposed Fremont's further progress and order- 
ed his immediate return. Although Fremont had but for- 
ty men, each one had been tried in the crucible of hard 
experience and knew how to meet any opposition, so by 
skillful tactics they evaded Castro and moved on to Monte- 

fe ^^ 




Scene in Taos, N. M. 

rey, where there were a number of Americans ready to join 
them, appreciating the probabilities of a war betweenMex- 
icoand the United States, which was then being prepared 
for. 

Very soon after this the war tocsin was sounded, and 



LIFE OF KIT CAKSON. 495 

Fremont, with Carson as his first lieutenant, was duly en- 
listed for the fray, in which they contested with com- 
mendable valor and made their power felt throughout 
California. * 

In 1847 Carson was sent overland as the bearer of dis- 
patches from Fremont for Washington, but after proceed- 
ing eight hundred miles on the journey he met Lieutenant 
Gillespie, of the United States marines, who had been 
despatched from Washington for the slope with thirty 
men. At the Lieutenant 5 ;: request Carson's dispatches 
were entrusted to a Mr. Fitzpatrick for transmission and 
he returned with Gillespie as guide to California. Camp- 
ing one night on an island in Salt Lake, the little party 
was surprised and attacked by a party of Tlamath In- 
dians, who brained five of the men with tomahawks as 
they lay asleep, one of the victims at the time lying be- 
side Carson. After being aroused the remainder of the 
men attacked the Indians vigorously and repulsed them 
with a loss of twelve warriors. 

When Carson reached California again, Fremont 
had attracted to his standard a body of two hundred 
Americans, and at Sonoma had declared the independence 
of the territory, and adopted the Bear Flag, which was ten- 
dered to Commodore Sloat, who raised the united flags 
over the camp. 

Soon after this Fremont was appointed Governor of 
California, and Carson was a^ain sent to Washington 
with dispatches apprising the Government of the situa- 
tion on the slope. He performed this journey in sixty 
days, and then hastened his return to the field of action. 

While a squad of Fremont's men were manceuvering 
thirty miles from San Diego, they were surrounded by a 
large party of Mexicans, who cut off their retreat and 
threatened the little party's annihilation. The Americans 



496 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

took position in a clump of timber, and there resisted 
attack until hope seemed exhausted. When night ap- 
proached, Carson addressed the men, declaring that the 
only possible means for their escape lay in the possibility 
of communicating with the forces at San Diego and secur- 
ing their assistance. But this plan seemed anything but 
feasible, as the Mexicans had established a complete cor- 
don around the American squad and any attempt to break 
through the lines would certainly be detected. After 
counciling with the men for some time on the hopeless- 
ness of their situation, Carson volunteered to make the 
attempt at establishing communication with San Diego, 
and in this effort Lieutenant Beale offered to accompany 
him. The two therefore started out at midnight, and 
crawling on their hands and knees, they approached the 
first line of guards without detection. Their shoes were 
then removed to prevent noise, and again they resumed 
their perilous progress, over rocks and through briars, 
each step lacerating their feet, and the breaking of 
each twig exciting the gravest fears of discovery. 
But the outlying posts were passed, and then they 
made all possible haste for San Diego, which was 
reached shortly after daylight. The sufferings of this 
journey were so acute that Lieutenant Beale was for sev- 
eral days deranged from the effects, and did not recover 
his usual physical health until two years had elapsed. 
Carson's feet were so badly torn and bruised that for a 
time amputation seemed necessary, and he was unable to 
walk again for nearly two months. But the object of 
their mission was accomplished, Commodore Stockton 
Bending relief forward, which arrived barely in time to 
save the Americans from massacre. 

After the close of the Mexican war Carson and his 
old friend Maxwell settled in the beautiful Rayedo valley, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 497 

fifty miles from Taos, where they each erected substan- 
tial and ornamental residences, at which point there is 
still a thriving settlement. It was while living here in 
1853 that Carson received his appointment as Indian 
agent for New Mexico, which position he qualified for by 
filing the necessary bonds and entered upon the discharge 
of his duties as a true almoner of the Government's boun- 
ty to the Indians. His administration was characterized 
by wisdom and exact justice, for which he received uni- 
versal credit by his wards and all the citizens of New 
Mexico. 

In 1863 Gen. James H. Carlton directed.the formation 
of a New Mexican Brigade, of which Carson was made 
Brigadier General, and in this capacity he continued his 
excellent services until the close of the war. 

The life of this noted hunter and plainsman closed on 
the 23d day of May, 1868, at Ft. Lyon, Colorado, the 
immediate cause of his death being the rupture of a large 
artery in the neck. Only a few months previous to the 
termination of his active career, he had visited Washing- 
ton on some important business connected with the Indian 
Department in New Mexico, and at the solicitation of the 
various trades bodies in cities along his route, he stopped 
at many of the important towns to receive the homage of 
an admiring people. Everywhere along the line of his 
travel flags were flying and salvos of cannon proclaimed 
with what estimation he was regarded by the American 
people. 

When his will was opened several days after his death, 
a clause was found in which he bequeathed his trusty old 
rifle, one he had carried through all the stirring events of 
his thirty-five years of plains life, to Montezuma Lodge, 
A. F. and A. M., at Santa Fe. 




CAPT. D. L. PAYNE, 
(The Cimarron Scout) 



LIFE OF CAPT. D. L. PAYNE, 

THE CIMARRON SCOUT. 



CHAPTER I. 



Hon. David L. Payne, generally known throughout 
the West as Capt. Payne, of the Oklahoma Colony Co., 
was born in Grant county, Indiana, December 30, 1836. 
Being a lover of hunting and adventurous sports, in the 
spring of 1858, in company with his brother, he started 
"West with the intention of engaging in the Mormon war 
which was at that time creating a furore of excitement 
throughout the country, and especially in the West. 
Reaching Doniphan county, Kansas, he found the excite- 
ment somewhat abating,, and inducements offering, he 
concluded to pre-empt a body of land and erect a saw 
mill. This investment, while the prospects had appeared 
decidedly flattering, nevertheless proved a most unfortu- 
nate speculation, and Payne soon found himself destitute 
of means. He had resources, however, which could not 
be readily expended, and his courageous heart and crav- 
ing for adventure soon afforded him occupation of a most 
congenial character. 

At the time of Payne's settlement in Doniphan county 
that now fertile and thickly populated section was the 
grazing grounds for vast herds of buffalo, deer, wolves 

and other wild animals peculiar to the plains. These he 

490 
so 



500 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

hunted with much success and gratification, gradually ex- 
tending his occupation southwestwardly until he had pen- 
etrated the Magillon mountains of New Mexico, explored 
the course of the Cimarron river of the Indian Territory, 
and become thoroughly acquainted with the topography 
of the great Southwest. He naturally drifted from hunt- 
ing to scouting, and thenceforward he was engaged con- 
tinually by either the Government or private expeditions, 
becoming the comrade of all the distinguished guides, 
trappers and hardy characters of pioneer life. His inti- 
macy with Kit Carson, Wild Bill, Buffalo Bill, California 
Joe, Gen. Custer, and many others with national reputa- 
tions, approached comradeship. 

When the civil war broke out, Payne was one of the 
first to volunteer his services, being placed in the Fourth 
regiment, which was subsequently consolidated with the 
Third, and shortly afterward the two were joined with 
the Tenth regiment. He served three years as a private, 
refusing in the time of his service six different tenders of 
commissions. At the expiration of his three-year term 
he returned to Doniphan county, and in the fall of 1864 
he was elected to the Kansas Legislature, serving in the 
session of 1864-65, during which, while never courting 
the part of an orator, his influence was pronounced. At 
the close of the Legislature he again volunteered as a 
substitute for a poor neighbor who had been drafted and 
whose care for a household full of children was such that 
leaving them they would have been dependent upon the 
charity of the neighborhood. Payne, upon his re-enlist- 
ment , assisted in recruiting a company for Gen. Han- 
cock's corps of veterans, and succeeded in enlisting one 
hundred and nine men, all hardy Westerners, who were 
devotedly attached to him. Again Payne refused to ac- 
cept a commission, preferring to remain a private com- 
rade with his friends. 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE 501 

The division to which Payne was attached was detailed 
for duty at Washington City and their service was little 
more than a strict observance of methodical military 
punctilios. Every man was provided with white gloves, 
nobby uniforms resplendent with brilliant buttons, highly 
polished boots, and their guns were required to shine 
like the armor of de Abigail, the ladies' knight-errant. 

After engaging in this elegant body service for a few 
months the division was ordered to Trenton, N. J., where 
during a few days stay the following humorous incident 
took place : Being called out for inspection one morn- 
ing, every man radiant with his bright regimentals, a 
Dutch captain named Schmit was found to be inspecting 
officer, contrary to expectations . This fellow, clothed with 
a brief authority and fierce moustache, but without the 
external dress of a fancy officer, marched up in front of 
Payne's company with his breast thrown out like a Dutch 
tobacco sign, and exclaimed, " One, two, tree! — front! 
right dress !" executing the movements with a precision 
as if each was regulated by a vast system of clock-work 
inside the ample profundity of his naturally large abdo- 
men. Extending his ungloved hands, the officer received 
Payne's highly polished gun and began the inspection, 
when he was astonished to hear himself addressed in the 
following undignified manner. Said Payne : 

"I'd rather you wouldn't handle that gun without 
gloves." 

Turning as though he had been stuck sharply with a 
pin the Dutchman hissed between his teeth : 

" Vat you say, you veller mit so much lip?" 

"I mean that I would prefer that you would not run 
your big sweaty hands over that gun," replied Payne. 

"Veller !" said the now doubly inflated Teutonic repre- 
sentative of the Faderland generalissimo, " do you know 



502 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

dot you vas speaking mit an officer, und dot I vill teach 
you how it vas you dalk like you don't know some- 
din gS." 

" I know," pleasantly answered Payne, " that you are 
nothing but a d — d Dutchman, and that I have long 
since learned how to talk to such roaring nobodies." 

With a spring like that of an infuriated bovine, the 
Dutchman leaped toward Payne, at the same time throw- 
ing the gun with such force that it nearly knocked the 
owner down. This so enraged Payne that he stepped out 
of the ranks and with the force of a catupult let fly his 
right fist which caught the officer under the chin, knock- 
ing him into the air like a trounced frog. The Dutchman 
lit yelling like his Hessian forefathers on the banks of 
the Delaware a century before. 

"For Got's sake, doan you kill your superior officer! 
I'll haf you in der gaurd house ; I make you built a whole 
fort, so help me by gracious ! Sergent, arrest dot man, I 
command you mit my power ! " 

Thus the sorely distressed inspecting officer cried, all 
the time inspecting himself rather than proceeding with 
that of the company. 

The sergeant did undertake to arrest Payne, but when 
the attempt was made the non-commissioned officer used 
his best endeavors to arrest himself in a backward flight 
not wholly unlike that which the Dutchman had just taken. 
Finding his hand now well in, while the officer continued 
a tirade of abuse, Payne made a second attack, and 
catching the already dilapidated Dutchman by the collar 
and a convenient place about his posterior middle, drove 
him against the side of a house with such force that the 
beer, sausage and kraut of at least twelve months were 
thoroughly well shaken up. 

Instead of attempting to rescue the unfortunate officer, 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 503 

the boys in the company applauded the manual exercise 
with vociferous shouts of, "Give it to him!" "Knock 
the bung out of his beer reservoir!" "Show up the 
kraut ! " " Set down on him ! " and other tender expres- 
sions appropriate to the occasion. 

When the excitement had somewhat subsided, the abject 
and most pitiable appearing inspecting officer was helped 
to his feet, and by painful persistency reached headquar- 
ters. On the same day Payne was arrested and placed 
in the guard-house, but he managed first to telegraph his 
predicament to Gen. Tom Ewing at Washington, who 
was a most intimate friend, and on the following day, 
before any trial was had, Ewing had influenced Secretary 
Stanton to send a pardon, and thus Payne escaped any 
punishment for humorously, but none the less ef- 
fectually, drubbing his superior. 

About two weeks after the incident just related, Payne's 
company was ordered back to Washington, and after the 
lapse of another week he was ordered to report, with a 
letter to Gen. Wenzle, at New York harbor. Not under- 
standing nor inquiring what the errand meant, he obeyed 
his instructions and was much astonished, after seeing the 
General read the letter, to hear himself addressed as 
Lieutenant Payne, for he could not divine why the title 
had been bestowed. 

Said he : "I guess you are mistaken, General. I am 
not a lieutenant." 

"Well, then," replied Wenzle, "this is strange; but 
maybe you have been sent to me to go on my yacht. Are 
you a seaman?" 

Payne, though he well knew his disqualifications for a 
seaman, nevertheless, feeling in the humor for fun and 
adventure, he promptly responded "yes," and being re- 
quested, he went down and reported to the captain of the 



504 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

yacht. Now, thinking the joke, or misapprehension, had 
proceeded far enough, he plainly told the Captain that he 
knew no more about water service than a Government 
contracter did of the Golden Rule. Payne's astonish- 
ment was very much increased upon hearing the officer 
say that he wanted one man at least who was ignorant of 
in urine service, and that he would be accepted to fill that 
vacancy. 

Two days afterward, Payne and a comrade were or- 
dered to man one of the yacht's small boats, for the pur- 
pose of taking two of the naval officers, with four elegant 
ladies, out on a pleasure ride in the harbor. Payne knew 
nothing about rowing a boat, but for a time he tried hard, 
though his efforts only subjected him to the derision of 
the ladies and officers. At length, tired of his vain en- 
deavors, and being much piqued, he threw his oar out 
into the water, and then jumped in as if to catch it, but 
really, owing to the heat of the day, he only wanted a 
bath. After swimming around aimlessly he returned to 
the boat, and nearly upset it trying to get in again. All 
this occasioned much laughter, while Payne so infused 
his comrade with a spirit of mischievousness that he too 
threw away his oar. 

After the fun had proceeded sometime, the officers or- 
dered Payne and his companion in servitude to recover 
the oars and row the boat back to shore ; but this the 
two oarsmen peremptorily refused to do, and upon being 
threatened, Payne told the officers that if they made any 
attempt at coercion he would throw them both out of the 
boat jusl as he had the oars. Now, here was a great big 
dilemma for the officers, their embarrassment being spe- 
cially humiliating because of the presence of four beau- 
tiful ladies, before whom anything but a maintainance of 
official dignity and gallantry would be shocking. 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 505 

Finding that orders and threats accomplished nothing, 
and the prospects appearing that the party would spend 
the night at sea, the ladies began a series of importun- 
ings with Payne ; but he was inflexible, while his sinewy 
arms, powerful build, large proportious and determined 
features admonished the officers how disastrous coercive 
measures would certainly prove. Every other means of 
gaining the shore having been fruitlessly debated, the 
officers at length were compelled to splash around until 
they recovered the oars, and then pull the boat and party 
to shore, while Payne and his comrade sat, one in the 
prow and the other in the stern, singing jolly songs for 
the delectation of the ladies. When they reached shore 
Payne anticipated results by calling at once on his friend, 
Gen. Tom Ewing, whose influence again procured for 
him a pardon ; but he never returned to the marine ser- 
vice, for directly afterward he was discharged with his 
company, and returned home. 

Payne's service in the volunteer army extended over a 
period of eight years, first as a private in company F, 
Tenth Reg. Kans. Infantry, from August, 1861, until Au- 
gust, 1864 ; his second enlistment was in company G, 
Eighth Reg. of Veteran Volunteers as private from March, 
1865, until March, 1866 ; his third service was as captain 
of company "D" of the Eighteenth Kans. Cavalry, from 
July, 1867, until November of the same year ; and his last 
service was as captain of company H, Nineteenth Kansas 
Cavalry, in which he served from October, 1868, until Oc- 
tober, 1869. In the meantime he performed other duties 
of great service to the State, holding the position of post- 
master at Ft. Leavenworth, a member of the Legislature, 
and was, during two terms, sergeant-at-arms of the Kan- 
sas Senate, besides engaging in such political campaigns 
as gave him an acknowledged influence. He was an ar- 



50<J HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

dent supporter of Gen. Tom Ewing, who after serving a, 
term as Chief Justice of Kansas, sought the greater hon- 
or of U. S. Senator. Payne worked so hard to secure 
Ewing' s election that the latter, though a politician, never 
forgot those favors, and remains to this day one of 
Payne's warmest friends. 

During the rebellion Payne was attached to the army 
of the frontier under Gens. Price and Blunt, and was en- 
gaged in nearly all the memorable conflicts that took 
place in Missouri and Arkansas, distinguished for desper- 
ate lighting and dreadful mortality. He was a participant 
in the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, which occurred 
on the 7th of December, 1864, and in this en^ao-emenl 
he performed an act of gallantry which well entitles him 
to a place in the honorary niche of history. In the hot- 
test of the light his 1st Lieutenant, Cyrus Leland, who 
was at the head of his men leading them in an onslaught 
against the enemy, was struck hard in the right shoulder 
and his sword knocked several feet distant. Leland tried 
in vain to recover his sword with the right hand, but in- 
stead of obeying his will the arm was limp and useless. 
Then, like the courageous man he was, the wounded lieu- 
tenant raised the lifeless arm with his left hand and thrust 
it between his suspender and body, and picking up tha 
sword in his left hand he continued bravely leading his 
men. In a few moments after receiving the wound, a 
bullet having crashed through his shoulder, the gallant 
lieutenant fell from sheer exhaustion, though at this time 
the enemy had recovered from the charge, and reinforced 
was pouring such a deadly fire into the faces of Payne's 
company that the commanding officer ordered his men to 
fall back. Payne, seeing his brave comrade lying on the 
ground, while a maddened enemy was charging back 
ready to trample him, stepped out of ranks and lifting 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 507 

the almost lifeless Lieutenant, bore him on his shoulders, 
like Hector of Troy, for fully half a mile, and deposited 
his precious burden within his own tent, where immediate 
surgical attention saved brave Lcland's life. Such an act 
of devoted comradeship can only find a parallel in the 
Brothers-in-Arms of the time of Henry II., and deserves 
the richest garlands of poetry to enshrine it in history. 
Leland was afterward appointed Adjutant General on 
Ewing's staff, and is now a wealthy citizen of Troy, Kan- 
sas, a living evidence of Payne's heroism and devotion. 

During his term of service in the Legislature in 1864- 
65, Capt. Payne opposed the special bounty act, upon 
purely patriotic grounds, and after its passage he again 
volunteered, but instead of accepting the bounty he per- 
mitted it to be credited to his county — Doniphan — thus 
manifesting his consistency and honesty. 



CHAPTER II. 

After the close of the war, Payne again resumed the 
occupation of a plainsman — scouting, hunting, trailing, 
guiding trains, etc. His disposition was so congenial, 
and possessing a courage which challenged the respect of 
the greatest desperado, he has ever enjoyed the popular- 
ity of every pioneer who knows him. The Indian Terri- 
tory and canons of the Cimarron, including the great 
salt basin, are so familiar to him that he is entitled, by 
precedence, to the appellation of "The Cimarron Scout." 
Few men are better acquainted with the Indian character, 
and his conflicts with the Cheyennes, Arrapahoes, Kiowas 
and Navajoes are numerous almost beyond the limit of 



508 HEROES OF TIIE PLAINS. 

description, one of which, because it is classed among 
the most remarkable that ever took place on the plains, 
will serve to illustrate his true character. 

In the spring of 1868, the Northern Cheyennes, under 
Tall Bull, made a raid along the Kepublican river, and 
near Jules City they committed a massacre of white set- 
tlers and travelers which will long live in the memory 
of Western pioneers. Their atrocities were peculiarly 
shocking because they spared none but two women whom 
they reserved for their own devilish purposes ; ripping 
up the other females, dashing out the brains of children 
and horribly mutilating the men. The two women 
whose lives were spared were Mrs. Morgan, a bride of 
only one month, and a Miss White, both of whom were 
en route, with their families, for Southern Colorado.' A 
Mrs. Blinn, from St. Louis, was captured, together with 
her little boy, at the same time, and spared for a while, 
but being unable to endure the march, the Indians split 
her head open and butchered her six-year old boy, leav- 
ing their bodies lying in the trail, where the skeletons 
were afterward found. 

As soon as a report of the dreadful outrage spread 
through the settlements, an armed band started in pur- 
suit of the Indians and followed them for several months, 
only to at last lose the trail and return home without 
accomplishing anything. 

When the settlers were first attacked, Mrs. Morgan's 
husband was shot down before her face, and of course 
she believed him dead. Miss White, as she was being 
carried off by her captors, still entertained some hope 
that her father had escaped, and would act as a guide for 
some relief party that she expected would make an effort 
to rescue her. She therefore tore her dress in pieces, 
and from time to time dropped small bits on the way, so 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 511 

that if her father should be among the pursuers he would 
recognize the pieces as parts of her dress, and the party 
would thus be enabled to keep directly in the trail. Miss 
White's father, however, was killed, while the husband of 
Mrs. Morgan, though desperately wounded, was found 
by friends and by careful nursing became convalescent, 
but not until after some months had elapsed. When Mr. 
Morgan grew able to ride, he went directly to Gov. Craw- 
ford, of Kansas, and asked for assistance in an effort he 
proposed to make for the recapture of his wife. There 
were many who believed that Mrs. Morgan and Miss 
White had been murdered, and that such an expedition as 
the anxious husband proposed was altogether useless. 
However, a short time after his conference with the 
Governor, he received reliable information that both the 
women were still living and in the keeping of their first 
captors. Gen. Custer was commanding a body of Gov- 
ernment troops in southern Kansas at this time, and 
learning of the expedition proposed by Morgan, he be- 
came anxious to enter a chase after the Cheyennes. But 
before any definite action was taken, Gov. Crawford sent 
for Capt. Payne, for the purpose of .consulting him as to 
the advisability of entrusting the expedition to Govern- 
ment troops or to a volunteer force of Kansas men. 
Capt. Payne at once advised a concerted movement with 
an organization of two or three companies of volunteers 
who would place themselves under the general command 
of Custer. This action was deemed most expedient, be- 
cause the Northern Cheyennes had joined their Southern 
t/ethren in the Indian Nation, and by a union of the two 
tribes had a force of fully one thousand warriors. 

The result of the interview was that the Governor gave 
Capt. Payne orders to enlist from one to two hundred 
men and report to Custer at Ft. Hays. Payne returned 



512 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



directly to Leavenworth, and in two days' time had raised 
a volunteer force of one hundred and fifty men, and had 
collected one hundred and seventy-five head of mules for 
the expedition. This force, of which Payne was chosep 




Captain, ho took at once to Ft. Hays, and on the next 
day after his arrival there, November 20th, the entire 
command was mounted and the expedition started for th» 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 513 

Cimarron, along the banks of which stream it was re- 
ported the Indians had recently been seen. 

The rigors of a bitter winter came on very early that 
year, and the expedition had moved only a very short 
distance, when, striking the lower ridge of the Wichita 
range and Cimarron canons, the snow accumulated so 
rapidly that it offered the most serious impediments, a 
lame number of their horses and mules beinsr lost. The 
command, numbering about twelve hundred men, con- 
tinued maneuvering in the Indian Territory until the 
February following, when, owing to the extreme weather 
and inability to locate the Indians, the expedition went 
into camp at Ft. Sill and remained for one week. At 
the expiration of this time the scouts brought in word 
that the Cheyennes, two hundred strong, had been sighted 
only a few miles west. This information created great 
excitement in the camp, and preparations were made for 
an immediate move. Accordingly, on the 12th of Feb- 
ruary, the march was begun, the force having been in- 
creased by the employment of one hundred scouts, who 
went ahead "beating" the route in order to definitely 
locate the Indians. Gov. Crawford had also joined the 
expedition, first resigning his position as Governor of 
Kansas in order to participate in the campaign. 

The Cheyennes' trail was soon found and led soutwest- 
wardly for fifty miles ; then struck directly across the 
Great Salt Plains toward New Mexico. This desert spot, 
which is from sixty to one hundred miles broad, is one 
of the most wretchedly dreary and desolate stretches of 
country on the globe. It is covered by a thick, stubby 
growth of wire grass, which, in turn, is covered by a 
heavy incrustation of salt. In marching through it the 
greatest difficulty is experienced, for the feet sink down 
just as in a twelve-inch depth of snow covered with a 



514 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

strong crust of ice. In addition to this impediment, 
which cuts the feet of horses and men in the most crue'i 
manner, the salty atmosphere, through inhalation, pro- 
duces a constant burning thirst, while nowhere can be 
found in that vast expanse a drop of water. 

On reaching this desolate region, the expedition, being 
wholly unacquainted with the length and character of the 
march, neglected to carry a proper supply of water and 
provisions, a fact which every one in the command real- 
ized after the first day of their entrance thereon. The 
animals that were still alive were barely sufficient to 
convey arms, munitions and camp equippage, so that the 
men were compelled to complete the entire journey on 
foot. When night approached, the officers and scouts 
looking about for water or the shelter of some kind oask, 
saw only the shimmering salt, stretching away, appar- 
ently, to the rim of the horizon on every side ; nothing 
but the trail of the Cheyennes bore any evidence that a 
single living thing had ever before explored the'regions 
of this wilderness of uninhabitable desolation. The 
pangs of thirst began to be felt in both men and horses, 
which increased as the weary hours wasted, and to pre- 
vent death from this most terrible deprivation, many 
experiments were resorted to. Deep wells were sunk, 
but the water thus obtained was so strongly impregnated 
with the saline properties of the earth above that it was 
next to impossible to swallow it. 

The scarcity of provisions became another source of 
extreme privation, so that the command was placed on 
half rations, while the march was so fatiguing that it ap- 
peared for a time that the entire expedition would cer- 
tainly perish within the confines of this dreadful, barren 
solitude. These several exhausting and harassing imped- 
iments so retarded the journey that it was not until the 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 515 

close of the fourth day that the advance scouts reported 
the appearance of trees which margined the Salt Plains. 
When this truly glorious sight broke upon the vision of 
the suffering army, every throat, though dried by thirst 
like crispy parchment, found voice for praise, for it was 
verily like the harvest of life out of death. 

Several of the horses died before they reached the ha- 
ven of growing vegetation and the purling of singing 
brooks. So sorely famished were the men that they 
broke their fast upon the dead carcasses. After reaching 
the Cimarron river, although there was an abundance of 
pure water and grasses for their jaded and starved ani- 
mals, yet contrary to general expectation, no buffalo or 
other game was found, and the men were therefore at last 
reduced to the extremity of killing some of the remain- 
ing horses for meat in order to save themselves from 
death by starvation. Capt. Payne, who suffered all the 
privations endured by his men, was forced by the pangs 
of hunger to appease his appetite on the steaks of some 
of his faithful pack animals, and now makes the observa- 
tion that mule meat may not appear very palatable when 
included among the ample spread of a versatile menu, but 
on the occasion when he partook of it he felt that it was 
as delicious as the manna that heaven distilled to save 
the chosen of Israel. 

After three days more of marching, bearing up under all 
their sufferings, the expedition reached a section of coun- 
try where prairie chickens and wild turkeys were abun- 
dant, and a general hunt soon provisioned the army for 
the time being. 

On the 13th of March the Cheyennes were discovered 
encamped on a small tributary of Red river, and imme- 
diately upon this fact being known preparations were 
made for an attack. When the Indians learned the prox- 



516 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

unity of their pursuers, and finding how determined was 
the expedition , ten of the sub-chiefs were sent to Custer 
as a peace commission for a "pow-wow." Among this 
decemvirate of chiefs were Roman Nose, the head chief, 
Lone Wolf, Cross Timber, Eagle Chief and Yellow Nose, 
five whose names were specially loathesome to the "Wes- 
tern settlers. When this body of treaty peace-makers 
came into camp Custer immediately ordered their seizure, 
and then sent back word to the waiting tribe that he 
would hold the ten chiefs as hostages, and would kill 
each of them if the women were not delivered up. In 
answer to this the Indians agreed to return the women, 
but declared they were not with the tribe but were in 
charge of the squaws at Little Robe cam}), twelve miles 
below. They further asked permission to drop down to 
that camp, promising that they would return on the next 
day with the women. This request Custer granted, feel- 
ing confident that so long as he had possession of the ten 
chiefs the tribe would not kill the women, nor would they 
attempt an escape. This action of Custer was so bitterly 
opposed by all his men that only the most careful gener- 
alship prevented a mutiny. 

The Indians packed up their things, and loading their 
baggage, souaws and children onto sleds. they departed 
southward. Custer, however, became somewhat anxious 
about the fulfillment of their promise, and to provide 
against possible ill-results, he followed with his entire 
force. When the command reached Little Robe imagine 
Custer's surprise to find neither Indians nor any evidence 
of a recent occupation of the place. The cunning Chcy- 
eynnes had taken advantage of the privilege and dispersed 
themselves like a brood of young quails when alarmed, 
not one being in skdit. 

This result so annoyed the men that they all clamored 



LIFE OF CAl'T. PAYNE. 



517 



for the execution of the captive chiefs, but Custer and 
Payne had influence enough to prevent this. On the fol- 
lowing day the scouts reported the appearance of Indians 




lurking around the camp, and it now became evident that 
they were trying to discover what had become of their 



31 



518 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

chiefs This fact led to a most sensible suggestion which 
resulted, happily, in the recovery of the two women. 
Knowing that the Indians were now fully cognizant of 
what was taking place in the white camp, Custer order- 
ed preparations to be made for the execution of the ten 
chiefs. Ten ropes were thereupon adjusted to a long 
branching limb of a large tree and the ten nooses display- 
ed to great advantage ; a platform was erected under- 
neath the ropes, everything being suggestive of an execu- 
tion, and then a cordon of soldiers was stationed around 
the tree. Seeing these preparations, some of the Indians 
came in from their hiding places and offered to give up 
the women if the lives of the chiefs were spared. This 
Custer consented to do, provided the women were deliv- 
ered to him within two and one-half hours from that 
time. 

The strategies of the Cheyennes could not avail them 
now, and soon there was descried coming down a defile of 
the mountains, a long line of Indians, having in front of 
them Mrs. Morgan and Miss White, each having a buffalo 
robe wrapped about her person. When they had reach- 
ed within several hundred yards of Custer's camp four of 
the Indians accompanied the ladies into the presence of 
Custer and formally delivered them up. 

The women presented a most forlorn appearance when 
they reached their rescuers, and told a tale of suffering, 
which, if it were not well verified, would certainly be dis- 
credited l)v many. Mrs. Blinn, being unable to continue 
the march, owing to her inhuman treatment, refused to 
go furt hei', and not being able to force her, an Indian, 
obeying the order of his chief, grabbed her by the long 
hair which so beautifully adorned her head, and while 
another of the fiends Mas butchering her little boy, she 
■was dragged a short distance, her skull split open by a 
tomahawk and her body horribly mutilated. 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYSTE. 519 

The other two ladies were given over to the care of the 
squaws, whose jealousy prompted cruelties as cunning as 
the inquisitorial torments. They were forced to perform 
the most trying and degrading labors of the camp, and 
during the winter time, when carrying wood and water, 
their fingers would become so cold that they could not 
resist the temptation to warm them by the fire ; as a 
punishment for this act the squaws forcibly held the 
hands of the ladies in the blaze until their finger ends 
were burned to the bone and became charred stumps ; 
yet even in this agonizing condition their labors were not 
abated, for the heavy cudgel compelled them to continue 
in the performance of duties almost too heavy for human 
endurance. Nor did the night bring them rest, for their 
sufferings continued until sheer unconsciousness afforded 
a respite. It is almost impossible to conceive how na- 
ture, and, least of all, feminine nature, could survive so 
long under such exhausting and acute pangs of mental 
and physical torture. 

The Cheyennes, who had escaped the annihilation they 
so justly merited, made off in a direction which caused 
grave suspicion that their purpose was to unite with other 
tribes in the territory and thus re-enforced fall upon the 
expedition before it could reach the sheltering forts of 
Kansas. This suspicion was so natural that nearly every 
one in the command confidently expected an attack, which, 
if it had been attempted by the large number of Indians 
whom Tall Bull [might easily have influenced, would no 
doubt have proved successful. Thoroughly comprehend- 
ing the probable danger of his position, Gen. Custer held 
a consultation with Capt. Payne, in whose judgment the 
entire command placed the greatest reliance. 

Said Custer, addressing Payne : " Captain, we have got 
to send word to Ft. Hays at once ; some one must act as 



520 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

courier to notify our friends of our position, and to carry 
the good news that the two ladies are in safety with us." 

Capt Payne responded : "Yes, that is my idea, and the 
sooner a messenger is despatched the better." 

" Well, then," replied Custer, "you are the very man 
to make this trip ; you are thoroughly acquainted with 
the country, and I feel safe in entrusting you with this 
important mission . ' ' 

" All right," w T as the cheerful reply of Payne, notwith- 
standing the fact that he was the heaviest man in the en- 
tire expedition, besides holding an official position in the 
command. 

" You can take your pick of men and horses and start 
at once. I think you will require about fifty men, but 
with these I have no fear of your getting through," ad- 
vised Custer. 

" The fewer men I have with me the better," replied 
Payne, "for fifty of the best soldiers in the expedition 
couldn't make any headway at fighting the hordes of In- 
dians on the war path between here and Hays, and 
would only make the trip more difficult." 

""Well," responded Custer, "you shall have your own 
way ; what men will you take? " 

"I'll fcake Jack Cowan and Charley Picard," respond- 
ed Payne, "and my purpose is to set out from here in 
about fifteen minutes." 

This was getting ready with despatch, but that was 
exactly what the circumstances demanded, and at the 
expiration of the time decided on, Capt. Payne and his 
two trusty companions started off briskly for Ft. Hay-. 
The expedition, having been in pursuit of the Cheyennes 
from November, L868, until March of 1869, had crossed 
and recrossed the trail, and so circuitous had been the 
last month's march that from the point where the ladies 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 521 

were recaptured to Camp Supply was only one hundred 
and thirty miles by the direct road, which ran around the 
northern boundary of the Salt Plains. This first ride 
was accomplished by Payne in eighteen hours, and reach- 
ing Camp Supply, a change of horses — or, rather, of 
mules — was made, and with a stop only of a few mo- 
ments, the three couriers started for Ft. Dodge, the next 
intermediate station. In making the change, Capt. Payne 
was somewhat annoyed to find that his new mule was a 
three-year old, upon whose back there had never been 
the presence of a seat or saddle. Here was fun for those 
who witnessed the antics of the untamed animal. Payne, 
though a man weighing nearly two hundred and fifty 
pounds, was unusually agile for one of his size, and cred- 
ited himself with an ability to ride anything that could 
be saddled ; but the obstreperous mule could not be sad- 
dled until he was violently thrown to the ground and 
held there till the caparisons were adjusted. By backing 
the animal up against a rick of wood, so that he could 
not shy aside, Payne at length managed to mount ; it 
was now that the interesting part of the performance 
began — it was the trick mule out of the circus ring. At 
first this long-eared descendant of the Holy Land reared 
up on his fore-feet and threw his heels out with the force 
of a cannon ball, taking an angle of nearly forty-five 
degrees, as if to salute the man-in-the-moon with a ball 
of Indian Territory mud. In vain did this athletic com- 
pound of villainy and masked stupidity try to dislodge 
his rider by kicking ; but having inherited some of the 
choice rascality, the cunning strategy of his ancestral 
kith, the mule plunged directly from kicking into buck- 
ing, and so quickly, too, was this great protean act ac- 
complished that, it must be confessed, Capt. Payne's 
last meal became dreadfully agitated over the result. 



522 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Imagine the spectacle of a little mule with a back as flex- 
ible as an Indian's bow, and having its possibilities as 
thoroughly in hand. This very considerate animal would 
draw his back down until it resembled the trough of the 
the sea ; then letting go the spring suddenly, it would 
shoot up in the shape of a rainbow, permitting the rider 
to explore the upper currents of atmosphere, and then 
replace himself with a force as undignified as it was pain- 
ful. The fun of this thing, it may here be properly 
stated, was altogether with the mule and the spectators, 
for the Captain was not allowed a sufficient vacation to 
discover the nub of the joke. 

This free-for-all, go-as-you-please performance contin- 
ued for some time without any intermission for refresh- 
ments, but becoming tired at last with his exertions to 
please the audience, this interesting mule deliberately lay 
down, in excellent imitation of the death scene in Romeo 
and Juliet, both of whom, it is well known, gave up the 
ghost kicking — against the cruel injunctions of Montague, 
or Capulet, as }^ou please. The persuasive prod, howev- 
er, brought the mule to life again for the second act, 
which, it is but justice to his memory to state, he went 
through with to the eminent satisfaction of his manager. 

Away went the three daring couriers, each riding a 
mule and driving a pack animal before them who was 
laden with eighteen hundred rounds of ammunition, as a 
provisionary precaution in case of a sioge. Shortly after 
dark, as the party was clambering up the hills of Western 
Kansas, they suddenly found themselves almost within 
the camp of more than a hundred scalp-loving Kiowas. 
Jack Cowan, in whom there was the moving spirit of the 
devil to dare danger, proposed riding through the camp 
oil a run "just to see some fun," as he expressed it. 
Payne admonished Jack that the nature of their mission 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 523 

was altogether too important for indulging in fun of that 
character. The three carefully backed out and went 
around the camp without being discovered, but on the 
following day, having passed Ft. Dodge and made an- 
other change of animals, in looking through the field- 
glass Payne saw a body of Indians numbering nearly one 
hundred and fifty, passing through a defile of the hills, 
evidently following the trail his little party had made. 
They had not long to await developments, for the paint, 
discovered through the glass on the faces of the Indians, 
plainly told the purpose on which they were bent. 

Payne and his comrades made off rapidly for a ravine 
in which they found the bank sufficiently high and abrupt 
to well serve their needs for a fortification. As the In- 
dians came riding rapidly along the hillside near the ra- 
vine, Jack Cowan, being unable to restrain his impulsive 
nature, drew his carbine and sent a bullet after the leader, 
but instead of hitting the Indian he struck the red-skin's 
horse in the head, knocking him down, and the hillside 
being steep the pony tumbled and rolled down so near 
Payne and his comrades that their mules became very 
much frightened and tried hard to get away. The party 
being now discovered, a fight ensued in which three sturdy 
scouts were matched against fifty times their number. 
Payne and Picard fired a moment after Cowan's first 
shot and two Indians went down, one killed dead and the 
other badly wounded. The Kiowas were armed with 
bows and arrows, and as the wind was blowing in hard 
gusts, they could not discharge their missiles with any 
accuracy at long range, and they were too cowardly to 
make a charge. 

The fight continued for nearly two hours, with the 
Indians occasionally riding at great speed in a circle by 
their dead comrades, five of whom were now on the 



524 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ground, and as they came rushing by each one would 
throw himself on the off side of his horse, and reaching 
down, try to drag away one of the bodies. This peculiar 
occupation afforded Payne and his men no small amuse- 
ment, for the Indians made no serious effort to charge or 
dislodge the little party. Having at last secured and 
taken away their dead, the Indians divided, a body of 
about fifty crossing the ravine, which was quite broad, 
to make an attack from the other side. Payne at once 
changed his quarters so as to cover the exposed position, 
and so dexterously did he handle the Indians now on his 
side that three of the enemy and two ponies fell victims 
to his excellent aim, while Cowan and Pi card were 
equally active, and did such execution that the Kiowas 
drew off a while to council. In about half an hour they 
came back on a dead run, each of the two parties circling 
by the ravine and turning loose a shower of arrows, only 
one of which, however, did any execution ; this one 
struck Capt. Payne in the right shoulder, glancing, cut- 
ting a gash of considerable depth, but fortunately did 
not touch the bone. Two more Indians and one pony 
went down in the charge, and Cowan, moved by that 
impetuous spirit which always distinguished him, jumped 
up on the bank of the ravine, and shouting to the Ki- 
owas, took a long pull at his whisky bottle. Seeing this 
act of bravado, several of the Indians cried out, " Cali- 
fornia. Joe!" and so holy a horror had they of this great 
fighter, whom they believed Cowan to be, that they im- 
mediately made off and were seen no more. 

Payne and his party met with no further adventure 
until the following day, when, on the Santa Fe trail, 
they were again struck by a party of Cheyennes who had 
already discovered and set upon Bob Wright, who was 
taking a freight train to Santa Fe. The three fought the 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 525 

Indians so well that a respectable distance was main- 
tained. The pack mule, however, came near costing 
them very dearly ; this animal was one of those plodding 
creatures that, with all the belaboring Baalam could have 




A Cheyenne Warrior. 

inflicted, would not move out of a jog-trot. It was there- 
fore a fight under the disadvantages of a distressingly 
slow retreat, with nothing on the broad prairie to afford 



526 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

shelter. Payne and his men, however, managed to reach 
Wright's corral without injury, only to find their friends 
badly frightened over the prospects. There were twelve 
men with Wright, whom Payne, after filling up to the 
exciting point with whisky, ordered out and made a dash- 
ing charge at the Indians, killing nearly a soore and gain- 
ing such a decisive victory that the remainder of the band 
beat a final retreat. 

On the fourth day out Payne reached Ft. Hays, hav- 
ing performed the journey of three hundred and sixty- 
five miles in one hundred hours, one of the swiftest rides, 
considering the obstacles and delays encountered, ever 
made on the plains. Before reaching their destination, 
having lost so much rest, Payne had to rub tobacco in his 
eyes to keep from falling asleep on the way. 

Delivering his message, Payne returned at the head of 
two hundred men as a relief party, but found Custer and 
the expedition making rapid progress and all in the hap- 
piest humor. No troublesome Indians had been met, 
and on the 22d of March the command reached Ft. Hays 
with the two ladies. Mr. Morgan had been unable to ac- 
company the expedition, owing to his enfeebled condition, 
and remaining at Hays had the incomparable joy of re- 
ceiving his wife from the hands of her deliverers. 

Miss White, who was alone in the world, her father and 
relatives having been killed at the massacre on Republi- 
can river, knew not what to do or where to go. Finding 
her in a very disconsolate frame of mind, " Pottawatto- 
mie " .Tonkins, an old pioneer who accompanied the expe- 
dition from Pottawattomie county, made a little speech 
to the boys at Ft. Hays, reciting their gallant acts, and 
concluding his remarks by calling attention to the lonely 
condition of Miss White, who was a pretty and highly ed- 
ucated lady, offered a quarter-section of fine land to any 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 527 

one in the expedition who would marry her. This prop- 
osition was accepted by a man from near Leavenworth, 
whose name cannot now be recalled. The marriage cer- 
emony was performed on the same day, both parties ap- 
pearing very happy over the singular circumstances which 
ended in their "consolidation," and at night the event 
was celebrated by a big " frolic." On the day following 
a subscription was started for the benefit of the two 
ladies, both strangely united to husbands, and the sum 
of $2,000 was raised, $1,000 each, which gave the couples 
a big lift over the obstacles which poverty had interposed. 

The ten chiefs, instead of being released, as the Chey- 
enues expected, were kept in custody and brought up to 
Ft. Hays with Custer, where they were placed in the stock- 
ade, together with sixty-five Indian women and children 
who had been captured the December previous in the 
fight with Black Kettle, on the Wachita river. Black 
Kettle was killed in this engagement, but his sister, Wah- 
wis-sa, with her three year old child, was captured and 
kept in the stockade at Hays. Some time during the 
summer of 1869 the captive chiefs made an attempt at 
escape, in which they fought with such courage that three 
of the soldiers on guard were killed, but in return all of 
the chiefs received mortal wounds from the rifles of the 
soldiers who were near to succor the guards. 

In this hopeless attempt made by the chiefs, Black 
Kettle's sister was also killed under very distressing cir- 
cumstances. Ever since the day of her capture she 
seemed contented to remain with the whites ; she was 
permitted to return to her people, her child having been 
kept, however, at the fort ; but after a time she was 
offered her liberty, together with that of her child. 
Instead of going back to her tribe she declared her desire 
to live always with the white people, who treated he A ' 



528 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

much better than the Indians of her own tribe. When 
the chiefs broke out of the stockade and rushed on their 
guards this woman became so connected with the strug- 
gle that, under an apprehension that she was trying to 
assist the Indians, one of the soldiers shot her in the side 
fatally. She lived some hours after the shooting, and 
being conscious up to the moment of her death, she 
explained that, instead of helping the chiefs, she was 
trying to take a knife from one of them, and had not the 
fatal bullet struck her she would have saved the life of 
one of the guards who was stabbed with the knife which 
the chief drew from her relaxing grasp. 

In 1870 Capt. Payne removed to Sedgwick county, 
Kansas, near Wichita, and the following }'ear was chosen 
to represent that district in the Legislature. While serv- 
ing in the session of 1871-72, through his influence Sedg- 
wick county was divided and a new county formed of the 
northern part, which was called Harvey. In the redis- 
tricting of Sedgwick county one of its largest town- 
ships was named in his honor, "Payne," in which he now 
makes his home, owning a large ranche about ten miles 
northeast of Wichita. 

In the year 1879 Capt. Payne became interested in a 
movement for the occupation and settlement of a district 
in the Indian Territory, which is known as Oklahoma 
(beautiful land). This central spot in that beautiful 
country comprises one hundred thousand acres of the 
finest land on the American continent. He claims the 
right of white settlement on these lands under a treaty 
made by the Government with the Indians in 1866, by 
which this district was ceded to the Government as a 
public domain, and was afterward surveyed and set apart 
:i- SUCh. 

Through Capt. Payne's personal endeavors a large col- 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 



529 



ony was organized for the purpose of entering upon and 
settling these lands. This colony moved early in Decem- 
ber. 1880, and first assembled on the border of the In- 




dian'Territory on Bitter Creek, and after organizing on a 
military basis, moved along the State line to Hunnewell, 
where thev went into camp. The settlers were closely 



530 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

followed by Federal cavalry under the command of Colo- 
nel Coppinger, who had previously warned the intending 
Invaders that any attempt to enter the Indian Territory 
in the face of the President's proclamation would be for- 
cibly resisted . At Huunewell, where the cavalry occupied 
one side of a creek and the colonists the other, 
the latter remained in camp for two or three days, . 
receiving a good many recruits from the dry region 
of Western Kansas, where the settlers have been literally 
starved out for some years past. On Sundaj', the 12th, 
the camp was crowded during the day by the inhabitants 
of the surrounding country, who came to inspect the 
throng. During the afternoon, after a dress parade by 
the colonists, there was a religious service conducted by 
the colony chaplain. An invitation was extended to the 
officers of the Federal troops to unite in the service, and 
their acceptance occasioned great satisfaction. Seats 
were provided for the ladies, some forty or fifty in num- 
ber, and the exercises opened with the grand national an- 
them, "America." The chaplain's text was from Exo- 
dus — the Lord's commandment to Pharoah to let his peo- 
ple go and possess the promised land. The next song 
was : 

" Hold the fort for we are coming, 
Oklahoma still." 

In which hundreds of voices joined, and the religious ex- 
ercises concluded with the rendition of the " Star Span- 
gled Banner," three cheers for the flag, three more for 
the President, and a tiger for the Federal troops. It was 
a novel spectacle, and none seemed to enjoy it better than 
the officers <>f the army, who sat upon the anxious bench, 
sandwiched between the choir and the pilgrims. The 
stars and stripes were conspicuously displayed about the 
camp, while a number of the wagons were adorned with 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 531 

the same colors. The wagon covers were nearly all in- 
scribed with " On to Oklahoma ! " "No Turning Back ! " 
"Strike for Homes ! " "Uncle Sam is rich enough to 
to give us all a home in Oklahoma ! " and similar devices. 
On Sunday night a colony meeting was held for confer- 
ence as to their future course, but the only conclusion was 
to wait a day or two longer for some modification of 
the President's order, under which it would be possible 
for them to proceed. 

The Secretary of the Interior, Carl Schurz, having held 
that these lands were purchased exclusively for the settle- 
ment of negroes or of Indians who would accept the civil- 
izing influences of the nation, the President issued his 
proclamation forbidding white persons to enter upon 
these lands, and called upon the military to enforce the 
order. 

Receiving no answer to their petition, which the colo- 
nists had forwarded to the President, and getting some- 
what anxious, whilst many proposed entering the lands 
despite the military, on the 13th of December a meet- 
ing was held at which Dr. Robert Wilson, of Texas, was 
appointed a committee of one to go to Washington to see 
if something could not be done at once to relieve the crit- 
ical situation on the border. 

On the 14th the colonists broke camp and moved for- 
ward to Caldwell, Kansas. Before starting the chaplain 
offered up a prayer for the success of the undertaking, 
in carrying the gospel and civilizatian to this hitherto 
barbarous and benighted land. At Caldwell, where five 
wagons and twenty men joined the column, the Mayor 
and a long procession of citizens came out to meet 
the colonists and escorted them through the streets, 
women waving handkerchiefs and men cheering. The 
cavalry moved along with the settlers without interfering 



532 



HEROES OF THE 1'LAINS. 



with their progress. The day following, at a mass meet- 
ing of the citizens of Caldwell, resolutions were adopted 
indorsing the movement to settle the lands, and asking 




the President to order the troops to accompany trie set- 
tlers to Oklahoma as an escort. 

Being unable to accomplish anything, either through 
petition or by endeavoring to influence Congressional 



LIFE OF CAPT. PAYNE. 533 

legislation, the colonists became restless, and shortly 
afterward Capt. Payne, having been arrested by the U. 
S. authorities, charged with tresspassing on Indian reser- 
vations, the colony disbanded temporarily. 

The trial of Capt. Payne occurred at Ft. Smith, before 
U. S. District Judge Parker, on the 7th of March, 1881. 
He was represented by Judge Baker, of St. Louis, who 
argued at great length the character of the treaty of 1866. 
The question raised over Capt. Payne's arrest involves 
directly the nature and validity of that treaty, and hence 
a means is afforded for testing a point upon which the 
Secretary of the Interior and the ablest lawyers of the 
country are at variance, the latter holding that Oklahoma 
is a part of the public domain, and subject to pre-emption 
and settlement like all other public lands. 

Personally, Capt. Payne is one of the most popular 
men on the Western frontier. He is a natural scout, 
born and indurated to the hardships of adventure and 
campaign service. His mother is a first cousin of the 
celebrated Davy Crockett, for whom he was named, and 
from whom he seems to have derived a character which 
has led him into a similar life. Unlike most heroes of 
the plains, Capt. Pajme is a strictly temperate man, and 
is so far removed from the desperado and bravado that 
he is universally recognized as a dignified gentleman of 
no small talent in all the fields of labor where his services 
have been employed. He is in the very prime of life, of 
very large and powerful frame, with such a commanding 
presence, mild manners and agreeable deportment that 
he is by right esteemed as one of the most prominent 
men whose names are inseparably linked with the settle- 
ment of the West. 

32 




WHITE HEAVER, 
(l)r. D. F. Powell.) 



534 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER, 

(Dr D. F. Powell) 

CHIEF MEDICINE MAN OF THE WINNEBAGO-SIOUX 



CHAPTER I. 



The life of White Beaver (Dr. D. F. Powell) bears 
all the colors and shades of an idyllic romance ; his char- 
acter stands out upon the canvas of human eccentricities 
in striking originality, and finds never its counterpart, 
save in stories of knight-errantry, when hearts, names 
and titles were the prizes bestowed for daring deeds 
evolved from generous sentiments. His has been the 
tenor of uneven ways, with characteristics as variable as 
the gifts in Pandora's box. A born plainsman, with the 
rough, rugged marks of wild and checkered incident, and 
yet a mind that feeds on fancy, builds images of refine- 
ment, and looks out through the windows of his soul 
upon visions of purity and fields elysian. A reckless 
adventurer on the boundless prairies, and yet in elegant 
society as amiable as a school-girl in the ball-room ; evi- 
dencing the polish of an aristocrat, and a cultured mind 
that shines with vigorous lustre where learning displays 
itself. A friend to be valued most in direst extremity, 
and an enemy with implacable, insatiable and revengeful 
animosities. In short, he is a singular combination of 
opposites, and yet the good in him so preponderates 
over his passions that no one has more valuable friend- 
ships and associations than these strange complexities 
535 



536 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

attract to him. He is an ideal hero, the image which 
rises before the ecstatic vision of a romancer, and he 
impresses himself upon the millions who know his repu- 
tation as a brave and chivalrous gentleman. 

Dr. David Frank Powell (White Beaver) has in his 
veins the blood of three races, each of which has im- 
parted to him a distinct peculiarity. His mother was a 
woman of great fertility of mind and resource, whose 
father was a full-blooded Indian Medicine Chief of the 
Seneca tribe, who were known as the Nun-da-wa Ona 
(Mountain-dwellers). Her mother was a Tompkins, 
born in Tompkins County, near Seneca Lake, New York, 
which county was named in honor of her people. The 
mother of the subject of this sketch was married at the 
age of fifteen years to Dr. C. H. Powell, of Kentucky, 
who was of Highland-Scotch descent. Their acquaint- 
ance and marriage occurred while Miss Tompkins, with 
her Indian father, was upon a hunting excursion near 
Seneca Lake, when, by accident, she met Mr. Powell, 
who was surveying that region. After marriage, the 
couple went to Kentucky and settled in the mountainous 
district near the Tennessee line, on the Kentucky River. 
Mr. Powell was a highly-educated gentleman, speaking 
several languages, and was a physician of large reputa- 
tion. Mrs. Powell is popularly reputed to have been a 
woman of extraordinary beauty, and, having an inherited 
liking for botany, she acquired an exceptional knowledge 
of the medicinal virtues of nearly every plant indigenous 
to the places where she lived. This knowledge she- 
applied industriously, and became not only a great 
assistant to her husband, but was known and sought as a 
physician by thousands herself. 

There is no doubt but that Dr. Frank Powell has inher- 
ited all the striking traits of his character from his 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 537 

mother, for she was a woman not alone of beauty and 
intelligence, but also one of great magnetism, which 
made her the counselor of all her acquaintances ; she 
was courageous almost beyond expression, firm and self- 
reliant, yet sympathizing, generous, noble and gentle. 
These traits are impressed upon all her children, who 
resemble her in both appearance and disposition ; even to 
her grandchildren have been transmitted these same dis- 
tinguishing peculiarities. 

Of the tribe of Indians to which Mrs. Powell (before 
her marriage) belonged, there were four branches, or 
clans — the Beaver, Wolf, Bear and Turtle — she being a 
member of the Beaver clan. Her grandfather, a firm 
friend of the whites, was a soldier under Gen. Sullivan, 
and received his death-wound in 1779 in a battle which 
took place near Niagara Falls. 

Dr. D. Frank Powell was born at the home in Ken- 
tucky, May 25th, 1847. He had no early school advan- 
tages, save what his parents gave him in their own log 
cabin, but they were both excellent instructors, and not 
only taught him the rudiments of an education, but also 
the fundamental principles of medicine, a profession 
which he gave youthful indications of embracing, mani- 
festing an aptitude said to have been almost marvelous. 

In the year 1855 Mr. Powell died, and soon thereafter 
Mrs. Powell, anxious to again see her parents, who were 
living at an advanced age, sold all her effects, and, with 
her family of three sons — Frank, George and William — 
returned overland to New York. Here she settled again, 
about thirty miles from Ithica, and began farming. 
Meeting with indifferent success, after a few years she 
started with her family for the Great West, which was 
then beginning to attract emigrants. Getting as far as 
Chicago, the family stopped, and young Frank secured a 



538 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

position with F. A. Bryan, a druggist, with whom he 
remained for two years, and until his mother decided to 
again remove, this time directing her course for Omaha. 
Here Frank was given a situation as chief clerk in a large 
drug-store, owned by Dr. James K. Ish. In this posi- 
tion his efficiency and rare medical knowledge, for his 
age, became so conspicuous that they were recognized by 
Dr. Ish giving him a full partnership interest in the store. 
The firm of Ish & Powell developed a large business in 
the preparation of family medicines, which they supplied 
to nearly all the Territories. 

Frank was now making both reputation aud money, 
but the other members of the family were unsettled, and 
to find employment they purchased a considerable tract 
of land on Platte River, Nebraska, near Lone T ree > a 
place that is now historically known as Old Eagle Island. 
Here Mrs. Powell remained, using her best efforts for 
the advancement of her children's interest, giving both 
her unremitting labor and counsel until 1879, when she 
was seized with purpura, which ended her eventful life. 
The boys, with their own hands, made her a grave under 
the cottonwoods, and, bedewing the sacred spot with a 
libation from breaking hearts, left her in a pious sleep. 
That upheaval of precious earth is still their Mecca, to 
which they pay homage in annual pilgrimages, to leave 
their offerings of filial love. 

While conducting his prosperous business in Omaha 
Frank usually spent two months of each year on the 
ranche with his brothers. Game was abundant, not to 
speak of the Sioux Indians, and this became a field of 
delight for his adventurous nature. He was a fit com- 
panion for the noblest and most noted border men, and 
his society being courted, Frank became a favorite of 
such daring plains heroes as Buffalo Bill, California Joe, 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 539 

Wild Bill, Leon Pallerday, "Old Man Platte," the Re- 
shaw family, Texas Jack, and a hundred others. From 
the inception of these friendships, they found that Frank 
was a brave lad among the bravest men, that with a dar- 
ing heart he had a generous kindness, and already was a 
surgeon and physician whose equal had not yet set foot 
upon the frontier. 

In the times of which I am now writing the great 
plains were productive only of buffaloes and Indians, the 
number of each apparently being in fair distribution ; 
buffalo hunting was therefore an exhilarating sport, but 
fighting and getting away from the Indians was decidedly 
more exciting ; and the latter was very often a sequence 
of the former. There are men who cannot appreciate a 
pastime unless there is in it an element of great danger. 
It is this characteristic which attracted many reckless 
men to the frontier and won for them the name of heroes. 
Among this class Frank Powell was a conspicuous figure, 
but while some followed the various employments pe- 
culiar to the plains and incurred dangers in pursuit of a 
livelihood, Frank invited them as an exhilarant, met them 
because they were the true delight of his courageous and 
venturesome nature. He has been an active, front-rank 
participant in a hundred or more tierce Indian fights, and 
bears upon his person the trade-marks of not a few val- 
orous warriors ; if I were to describe all the battles in 
which he has heroized himself it would require a book 
equal to the whole of this work, but there are some ad- 
venturous incidents which the value of history demands 
that I record : 

In 1868, while Frank was out hunting with the elder 
Reshaw, McCabe, the Shoshone scout, Jonathan Pugh, 
and eight others, the party was attacked by a band of 
Arrapahoes in command of Chief Friday, near Whiskey 



540 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Gap, on Sweetwater River. The Indians came upon them 
suddenly, but not until hasty action permitted Powell's 
party to corral their horses and make a stand in a buffalo 
wallow. The Indians numbered fully one hundred war- 
riors and were well armed, several having rifles and pis- 
tols, which, however, it appears they had not learned to 
use effectively. The fight was very spirited at the be- 
ginning, and for a time there were grave doubts that a 
single one of the besieged hunters would escape. Their 
horses were shot down in a short while, but this really 
served as an advantage to the men, for immediately the 
bodies were piled in a circle and used as a barricade. 
Indians never tight like white men, their tactics being to 
ride in a circle around their enemies, gradually closing in 
if advantage promises, instead of charging directly. It 
was thus the Arrapahoes kept up their attack, riding 
round and round the little party of brave hunters, shoot- 
ing and yelling, but doing no more damage than occa- 
sionally wounding, with spent bullets that penetrated 
through the barricade, some of the hunters. But there 
was more execution made by the besieged, so that after 
the first day's fighting the Indians drew off out of range, 
intending to starve out the beleaguered party or compel 
them to abandon their defensive position by preventing 
them from replenishing their canteens with water. The 
river was nearly one mile distant, flowing peacefully by, 
unmindful of the service its inviting waters might give to 
the famishing party. For three days and nights the In- 
dians, feeling certain of their victims, kept their posi- 
tions on hillsides surrounding the hunters ; every avenue 
of possible escape was securely guarded ; no friendly aid 
could be expected ; there was no pitying glance in na- 
ture's aspect, and everything seemed to forecast a mas- 
sacre. Of food there was an abundance, but every drop 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 541 

of water had been exhausted on the first day, chiefly in 
bathing wounds, and thirst had now become an enemy 
more dangerous than Indians. No one was determined 
what to do until at last up spoke Powell, the youngest of 
the party : " I will decide this battle ; better die at once 
than linger from parching thirst in the terrible stench of 
these dead horses." 

" Well, what will you do?" was asked him. 

"Do? Why charge the red devils and trust to luck ; 
follow me who will ; for one I intend to leap into the 
crisis." These last words had scarcely left his lips 
when with a spring he leaped outside the breastworks 
and made a break for the river. With terrible yells the 
Indians dashed toward him ; down they came in a fierce 
swoop, every warrior competing for the white man's 
scalp. When a distance of scarce fifty yards separated 
them, Frank stopped and, raising his gun, fired, and the 
foremost Indian dropped headlong from his saddle. A 
rattling fire followed from the hunters, who, until now, 
Frank did not know had left the barricade. There was 
a fierce contest for a few minutes, in which so many In- 
dians were killed that the remainder drew off and let the 
brave hunters through, who reached the Sweetwater and 
there so intrenched themselves that they had no imme- 
diate fear of another attack. The wounded were attended 
by Frank with such skill that only one died from injuries 
received in the fight ; four others of the party, however, 
were killed outright. 

The Indian whom Frank killed with his first shot 
proved to be "Walking Crane," one of the most re- 
nowned braves among the Arrapahoes, whose teepee was 
well lined with scalps taken from those he had destroyed 
in battle. 

The reckless daring as well as decisive judgment dis- 



542 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

played by Frank upon this occasion gained for him a 
considerable reputation among all the scouts and Indian 
fighters, and his uame soon became familiar throughout 
the northwest. 



CHAPTER II. 

Shortly after the battle on Sweetwater, with a party of 
four others, Frank was hunting on Stinking Water, and 
was again attacked by twenty or more Sioux. This time, 
however, he sought no protection, but, without giving 
his companions time to consider, he ordered a charge and 
rode with all speed toward the Indians ; his daring act 
inspired those that were with him, and a more gallant 
charge was never made than that which here followed. 

CD 

Taking the bridle reins in his teeth, with a revolver in 
each hand and carbine caught fast in the saddle seat 
before him, his appearance was sufficient to inspire aivV 
painter. Fierce as a wounded panther, and shooting 
with rattling rapidity, the five men rode up to and ovei 
the Sioux before they had time to think of their enemy's 
action, least anticipating anything but retreat from so 
small a number. Seven of the Indians were killed in 
this attack and as many more were wounded. Had not 
the others fled their entire party would certainly have 
been annihilated. But of such fights I might describe 
scores, actual rencontres which occurred on the Beaver, 
Platte, Republican, Solomon, Arrickaree, Niobrara, 
Prairie-dog Nose, and other creeks upon which it was 
the custom of Frank Powell to hunt and scout. 

Being a thirty-second degree Mason, even at this early 
age, Frank was appointed District Deputy Grand Master 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 



548 




544 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

of Masons for Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming, and 
in 1869 conferred the Master's degree upon Buffalo Bill 
at Platte Valley Lodge, Cottonwood Springs. 

In the latter part of 1869, although Frank had never 
been to a regular school one day in all his life, he sub- 
mitted to a competitive examination, with thirteen other 
candidates, for a beneficiary scholarship in the University 
of Louisville. This examination was made in pursuance 
of a rule of the college which admitted, free of matricu- 
lation expense, one scholar from each state, the candidate 
being selected by a board of examiners in the respective 
states, Gen. Estabrook, the eminent jurist, being presi- 
dent of the Nebraska board. With the disadvantages 
against him, Frank carried off the honors and thus 
became admitted to the college as a beneficiary student. 
He spent the years ISC!) (latter part of), 1870-71 at the 
medical department of the college, and by performing 
the duties of janitor paid his expenses ; before graduating 
he was made assistant demonstrator of anatomy, and 
upon finishing his course was pressed to take a professor- 
ship. But his desire for a wild life, the lonesomeness of 
a large city to him, and the proffer of a position as post- 
surgeon from Gen. Joseph B. Brown, medical director of 
the Department of the Platte, induced him to decline the 
former honor and take the latter. As a recognition of 
his learning and the high social esteem in which he was 
held at the college, he was chosen as valedictorian of his 
cla^s and acquitted himself with such merit that his 
address was printed in hundreds of newspapers. It was 
thus he started life as an M. I).; but, aside from the 
prestige which his college course and graduation gave 
him, Dr. Powell owes most of his success as a physician 
to the teachings of his mother; this fact is attested 
largely by the results df his practice bef ore he received 
his degrees. 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. bib 

While attending college in Louisville Dr. Powell went 
through the ordeal of a duel with Dr. Louis Oppenheimer, 
a member of the faculty of the same college, which 
created a very great excitement at the time and led to 
the publication of many accounts of the affair, few of 
which were correct. The facts are easily accessible, as 
Dr. Oppenheimer is still living and practicing medicine 
in Indiana, possibly in Seymour. A bitter feeling arose 
between the two, consequent upon an insult which it was 
alleged Dr. Oppenheimer gave to a lady friend of Dr. 
Powell's. The reported insult may have been exaggerated 
by officious persons, but Dr. Powell felt that it was his 
duty to protect the lady, and therefore, according to the 
ethics of Kentucky aristocracy, he sent a challenge to 
Dr. Oppenheimer, which was accepted. The latter, 
having the selection of place and weapons, chose the 
dissecting room of the college, which was on the fifth 
floor, and for weapons pistols were named. There was 
a ghastly feature about this duel which made it unique, 
but fortunately it was not fatal. The dissecting room of 
a college is, perhaps, of all places, the one most suitable 
for a reflection on death and its terrible consequences. 
There was a gruesome suggestiveness to Dr. Powell that 
his antagonist felt certain of his aim and had an ambition 
to dissect his victim ; but if so it did not come to pass as 
the challenged party hoped, if not anticipated. 

The combatants repaired to the room selected some 
time after nightfall, accompanied by their seconds. A 
distance of ten paces was cleared by removing tables on 
which reposed dead bodies in various stages of dissection, 
and the principals then took their places. Dr. Al. 
Blakely, now a practicing physician in New York, ar- 
ranged the preliminaries by first placing the principals 
back to back, with instructions that at his word they 



546 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



were to walk apart until reaching the positions assigned 
to them, when, at the word " fire," they were to wheel 
and discharge their weapons. When the two took their 
first positions Dr. Blakely turned down the gas until ob- 
jects in the room were scarcely perceptible. When they 




had walked apart to their positions, the gas was turned 
on again and the command to fire was given. At the 
first discharge Dr. Powell was shot in the left forearm, 
while a ball from his pistol grazed Dr. Oppenheimer's 
check. Friends of both parties acknowledged satisfac- 
tion, but Dr. Powell demanded a second fire, which, of 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 547 

course, was accorded. The same rules were again ob- 
served, and the result this time was more serious than 
before ; for, though Dr. Powell escaped, Dr. Oppen- 
heimer received a bullet in his right shoulder, shattering 
the bone and rendering his pistol arm useless. His com- 
batant being thus disabled, Dr. Powell could not ask for 
another fire, and thus the duel terminated, not fatally, 
but seriously. Dr. Powell carries a scar from the wound 
thus received, while Dr. Oppenheimer has never regained 
the full use of his right shoulder. 

After his appointment as post-surgeon, Dr. Powell 
was located at Fort McPherson ; he was changed from 
there some time afterward to North Platte Barracks, 
thence to Camp Stambaugh, Fort Laramie, and other 
posts, at each place becoming a great favorite. Tiring 
of garrison life in its endless and unvarying duties for a 
surgeon, the Doctor asked for and was granted permis- 
sion to take the field with the soldiers when sent out upon 
campaigns. This gave opportunity, for which he thirsted, 
to participate in numerous fights with the Indians, and so 
eagerly did he embrace it that his superiors found fault 
with him for always being in front when a battle was 
waging, rather than in the rear attending to the wounded. 

The numerous dashing escapades in which Dr. Powell 
has figured, both as principal and participator, cannot be 
chronologically given, for the reason that he never kept 
a diary, nor has he ever made any attempt to preserve 
them in his memory ; besides, being supersensitive, it is 
only by the greatest exertion that he can be induced to 
speak of himself. Therefore, the few I here record are 
adventures which I have had described chiefly by others, 
who were witnesses of the incidents themselves, or who 
received the accounts from those who were. 

As an illustration of his sympathy and generous nature, 



548 HEItOES OF THE PLAINS. 

the following is told of him by Buffalo Bill. In the year 
1873, just after returning to Fort McPherson from a 
scouting expedition among the Sioux, and when almost 
exhausted from hard riding w r ith Capt. Mcinhold, of the 
Third Cavalry, Dr. Powell was called upon by a half- 
breed, who begged him to attend immediately upon the 
daughter of Mo ran, the French scout, known as Iron 
Leg, w T ho had been bitten by a Massasanger rattlesnake. 

Without waiting to dismount, bedashed off to Moran's 
ranche, two miles from the fort. Reaching the cabin, he 
found the girl in a rapidly-sinking condition, her leg that 
was bitten being swollen to twice its natural size. He 
took a bottle of brandy and forced it down the girl's 
throat, after which he made an incision into the leg where 
the bite was received, and, applying his lips to the wound, 
sucked it for nearly an hour, and until no more blood 
could be drawn from it. This truly heroic act saved the 
girl's life, but it greatly jeopardized his own. His lips, 
which had been chapped, became dreadfully swollen, and 
the poison in his system showed its work in various ways, 
but through his own skill in medicine he recovered. The 
young girl thus rescued from death gave the Doctor her 
pet antelope, which she prized above all other things ; a 
refusal to accept it seemed to cause her grief, as she de- 
sired to attest her thankfulness, and the Doctor therefore 
kept it. Having grown to womanhood, she is now a sis- 
ter-in-law of Leon Pallerday, official interpreter, with 
whom she is living, with her sister, at Rosebud Agency. 

For many years Dr. Powell has been known as White 
Beaver, a name which sticks to him with the tenacity that 
Buffalo Bill does to Cody. This appellation the Doctor 
received under the following circumstances, as he related 
them to nif himself. 

Rocky Bear, a Ke-uck-ae, or "Cut-Off" Sioux Indian, 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 549 

had a daughter whom he called Muz-zas-ka, meaning 
White Metal, whom he loved with an affection rarely ex- 
hibited among the tribe. She was not so pretty as some 
Indian maidens are described to be, but she was neverthe- 
less her father's pride. This young girl, about eighteen 
years of age, was stricken down with malarial fever, which 
became aggravated by reason of the treatment which she 
received. It has been an ancient practice among Indians, 
and is so among not a few tribes even to-day, to treat 
their sick by incantation and noisy ceremony, attributing 
disease to the influence of an evil spirit, which they seek 
to propitiate. In the instance now being noted, the In- 
dians had for several days been chanting their doleful 
songs, and making a terrible noise with gourds, partly 
filled with shot, over the girl. This tumult, of course, 
only served to excite the patient, and arrest any natural 
tendency there might have been in the favorable condition 
of the disease. The girl, therefore, was given over to 
die ; she had become first delirious, and then almost com- 
atose. She was in this condition when Dr. Powell, by 
accident, came into the Indian camp. Hearing a death- 
chant near where he stopped, he inquired the cause, and 
learning all the facts, he went to the patient, and after 
making an examination, told Rocky Bear that the girl 
might be saved, which information gave the Indian great 
joy, and he begged the Doctor to treat her, offering every- 
thing he had on earth if a cure were accomplished. Dr. 
Powell then dismissed the chanters, and, admonishing 
quiet under all circumstances, treated the girl so effect- 
ively that he soon had her well again. The gratitude of 
Rocky Bear was unbounded, and to prove this he pre- 
sented to the Doctor a white beaver skin, which, among 
Indians, is regarded with reverential awe and supersti- 
tious veneration, similar to the estimation in which white 



550 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

elephants are held by the Siamese. In making the pres- 
ent, Rocky Bear also gave Dr. Powell the Indian name, 
il Sho2)pa-Ska, ,, the Sioux for White Beaver, which be- 
stowal was because his mother was known to be a mem- 
ber of the Beaver Senecas. 



CHAPTER III. 

The manner in which "White Beaver, as he must now be 
known, nurses his wrath and vengeance is illustrated in 
the following incident, which occurred in 1867, and was 
correctly reported at the time for a Western paper (the 
clipping from which lies before me, but name detached) 
by an eye-witness. 

About the year 1865, White Beaver, being always a 
favorite with the ladies, was paying attentions to a very 
estimable young lady, not with any view to matrimony, 
but because her society was agreeable. In the same town 
were two brothers named Royall, who were handsome, 
well-dressed fellows, but of a dissolute character, and 
whose pride was in the destruction of female innocence. 
These two men were both seeking the ruin of the young 
lady referred to, who, being a widow's daughter, and 
without brothers to defend her, became an object of their 
special concern. Their character, however, was so well 
disclosed to the young lady by White Beaver that she re- 
pelled their addresses. Finding that their specious wiles 
were unavailing, the two concocted a diabolical plot to for- 
cibly accomplish their base, lecherous desires. The young 
lady was lured from her home by a female companion, 
and in a covert to which she was carried the poor girl was 
sacrificed. When White Beaver learned these facts, he 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 551 

sought the impious wretches, but they had flown. Day 
and night he seemed to hear the pleadings of that terribly 
wronged girl ; he took upon himself the grievance of a 
brother, and in the saddle he sought the villains. Years 
went by, and yet they could not be found ; he was anx- 
ious lest one or both of them might die before he could 
avenge the girl ; but it was not so destined. There was 
a day of reckoning, and it came about in this way : White 
Beaver was with the Indians near Sand Creek ford, on 
the Arrickaree, and while in camp one evening an Indian 
came in telling- of two strangers whom he had met at a 
ranche a few miles distant. His description of the men 
led White Beaver to believe they were the Royall broth- 
ers. So fixed was he in this belief that on the following 
morning he took up his Winchester, and started over to 
the ranche. Just before reaching the cabin, he saw two 
horsemen, and, riding near them, was gratified to see 
that his suspicions as to their identity were correct. He 
made a circuit to head them off, for they had discovered 
who he was, and rightly divined his intentions ; but, be- 
ing two to one, they sought no means to avoid a meeting. 
A few minutes elapsed, when White Beaver was within 
rifle range, and, as he was in the act of dismounting, both 
the brothers fired at him. Their shots, however, were 
without effect. Then the Beaver fired, and had the sat- 
isfaction of seeing one of them, Oliver, fall dead ; a sec- 
ond shot wounded the other one, but did not unhorse him, 
aud he made good his escape. The shooting attracted 
the men at the ranche at which the brothers had stopped 
over night, and three of them came down to where the 
dead body of Royall lay, and took charge of it. White 
Beaver only turned the dead man over to be certain he 
had made no mistake, and satisfying himself, he rode again 
to the Indian camp, without making any explanation of 



552 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

his conduct. The paper that published an account of the 
duel condemned White Beaver, but afterward, learning 
all the circumstances, an article was published applauding 
the act. 

The surviving: brother rode on to Elm Creek Station 
where he appeared four days after the affray, and there 
made affidavit that his brother had been killed and him- 
self wounded by Dr. D. F. Powell, "White Beaver," 
but he refused to give his name. This is the first time 
that the full particulars of this tragic incident have been 
published. 

After the killing of Oliver Royall, White Beaver con- 
nected himself with a band of Cut Off Sioux, who were 
under the leadership of Rocky Bear. This branch of the 
great tribe was called " Cut Off*' because they had with- 
drawn themselves from all connection with the tribe, and 
literally became bandits of the prairie, engaging in pred- 
atory excursions, chiefly against the Arrapahoes and 
Cheyennes. Their object was to capture whatever of 
property they could take from these tribes, and their en- 
gagement therefore became one of war and reprisal. 

At this time White Beaver never expected to enter the 
borders of civilization again ; he had met with reverses, 
which came as a natural consequence ; his associations 
were all of the lawless class, and he drifted away from 
wholesome influences, until his nature blended with that 
of the wild savages with wiiom he allied his fate. The 
Cut Offs were desperadoes, daring to a fault, reckless 
and remorseless. Following these Indian devastators, 
White Beaver was led into many fearful contests and 
slaughters, frightful to contemplate. In one of these 
onslaughts he was badly wounded, and for a time his life 
was dispaired of, but a rugged constitution and excellent 
care from a devoted mother brought about his recovery, 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 553 

and the results which followed are given in the chronicles 
of his after life — a reformed and useful man. 

The details of the fight referred to are briefly told: 
White Beaver, with Rocky Bear and his clan of Indian 
adventurers, was in camp on the South Platte River, in 
the summer of 1876, waiting, like a crafty spider for 
victims to fall into his web. A party of fifty or more 
Arrapahoe Indians were seen far to the south, crossing a 
prairie butte with a herd of horses. This was the game for 
which the Cut Offs were watching ; every one was quickly 
mounted and pursuit given, expecting to have a hard ride 
after a band of fugitives ; but the Arrapahoes refused to 
be intimidated, since the numbers on each side were about 
equal, and, as it proved, they were both war parties. A 
lively dash over the prairie soon brought the two tribes 
into a collision that was indeed war to the knife, and 
knife to the hilt. White Beaver was one of the bravest 
and most active participants, killing several Arrapahoes 
and scalping them in a running fight from his horse. 

His attention was particularly attracted to a powerful 
brave whose long lance was decorated with a score or 
more scalps, indicative of his prowess and valor ; to over- 
come this stalwart warrior, at once the hero and pride of 
the Arrapahoes, became White Beaver's ambition, and 
through the excited ranks of both sides he dashed on his 
fiery pony towards the Indian who was striking the Cut 
Offs with direful execution. As White Beaver swiftly 
advanced, he drew his revolver and tried to shoot, but 
every chamber in his pistol had been discharged, a fact 
of which he was in ignorance, and he had no time to 
draw another weapon. As the horses of the two com- 
batants came together, the Indian made a vicious thrust 
with his long, keenly pointed lance, but instead of impal- 
ing his antagonist, as he intended, his horse reared so that 



554 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



the lance struck White Beaver in the left thigh, cleaving 
the sciatic nerve and cutting an artery from which a tor- 
rent of blood spouted. The first sensation was that of 




extreme pain, which lasted hut a moment, when a dazed 
feeling succeeded thai served to deceive White Beaver as 
to the extent of his injury ; he therefore continued fight- 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 555 

ing until almost exhausted from the loss of blood ; his 
horse was shot dead, and he himself being too weak to rise 
again, several Arrapahoes rushed upon him to secure his 
scalp, but he had another pistol with which he defended 
himself most valorously and effectively. Rocky Bear, 
endeared to White Beaver by the strongest ties, for saving 
his daughter's life, as already described, came to the as- 
sistance of his suffering friend, and, having killed the 
Indian who gave him such a dreadful lance thrust, rallied 
a number of his braves to the rescue, and the Indians 
surrounding White Beaver were beaten back and the vic- 
tory was finally won by the Cut Offs, but at the sacrifice 
of nearly one-half their number, who lay dead upon the 
field. Being in the vicinity of his mother's home, White 
Beaver, now unconscious, was placed upon a swinging 
litter carried between two horses, and thus conveyed to 
his mother's ranche, where he lingered between life and 
death for many days, but finally recovered. 

Under his mother's influence White Beaver resolved to 
enter upon a plan of usefulness, and abandon the wild 
and savage career and associates from which he had been 
providentially separated. 



CHAPTER IV. 

During the time that he was post surgeon at Camp 
Stambaugh, a border tragedy was enacted, in which he 
was a principal by reason of a difficulty which was forced 
upon him. The Beaver, with his brother George, a man 
by the name of Morse, D wight Brafit, and two others 
went out hunting and stopped at a stage ranche near 
Slade's old camp ; the party sat down in the saloon that 



556 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

was kept there and began a game of draw poker. The 
game had proceeded only a short time when it was inter- 
rupted by the entry and riotous conduct of Jim Dyson 
and a band of desperadoes from Utah. They were 
determined upon a row, and in order to precipitate a 
disturbance they ordered the game of poker to be re- 
sumed and that he should take a hand. White Beaver 
refused to do this, whereupon Dyson drew his revolver 
with the determination of killing some person. He had 
only discharged one shot, without effect, however, when 
White Beaver seized his Winchester and with it struck 
Dyson a blow on the head, which crushed the fellow's 
skull so that he died within an hour. The others, seeing 
their leader fall by the hand of our hero, made a hasty 
retreat, but several were helped out of the cabin in a 
very familiar, not to say expeditious, manner. 

Massacre Canon is the name given by White Beaver to a 
deep gorge in the North Platte Eiver where was enacted 
one of the most atrocious butcheries that has ever found 
record in border history. 

In the spring of 1877 White Beaver was out on a scout- 
ing campaign with a company of soldiers from Camp 
Stambaugh, under command of Capt. Mcinhold. The 
Cheyenues had become troublesome, stealing stock and 
occasionally killing settlers, and there were threatenings 
that they intended soon to go on the war-path. The 
expedition was intended more to intimidate than to pun- 
ish, as Indian war always results in the killing of not a 
few defenceless people, including women and children. 

The expedition had been out for several days, meeting 
an occasional burnt cabin and other evidences of Indian 
devilment, when at length they struck a fresh trail lead- 
ing up the liver bank indicating a war party of about one 
hundred Cheyenne-. As the trail grew plainer the proofs 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 



557 



increased that the Indians were in open hostility, their 
outrages being now plainly apparent. As the company 
reached a point overlooking the gorge referred to a dread- 




ful 6ight in the valley below met their gaze ; there were 
broken emigrant wagons, a smouldering camp-fire, and 
no less than fifteen emigrants lying dead and frightfully 
mutilated. The Indians had evidently surprised the little 



558 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

party and with most malignant cruelty had butchered 
every one of them, adding to death a horrible feature of 
the scalping knife. 

A grave was dug by the soldiers, in which the mutila- 
ted emigrants were placed and then covered to protect 
the bodies from coyotes ; this required but a short while 
and after its completion the company started in active 
pursuit of the Indians. No doubt anticipating that a ne- 
mesis would be on their track the Indians marched so 
rapidly that it was not until the second day after the 
massacre that Capt. Meinhold's company overtook them. 
The Indians were just going into camp late in the even- 
ing, when their presence was discovered and with a whoop 
the soldiers, headed by White Beaver, rushed upon the 
murderous red-skins. There was a rattle of small arms 
that meant terrible execution, and the Indians being sur- 
prised their defense was of little consequence. White 
Beaver killed no less than ten of the Cheyennes, but he 
was himself badly wounded in the groin, being struck with 
a charge from a shot-gun. This wound laid him up for 
nearly two months, but while the fight lasted he gave no 
attention to anything save the enemy, fully one-half of 
whom were killed, the remainder escaping through their 
woodscraft. 

The manner in which White Beaver became medicine 
man of the Winnebago-Sioux Indians is thus related by 
himself: "In 187(5 I was on a deer hunt in the pine 
forests above Black River Falls. It has been my custom 
t<> take a hunt every year, and usually I visit the Indian 
camps to be of assistance if any is needed, and because I 
like to be brought in contact with the Indian character. 
It chanced that while on this hunt old Wee-noo-sheik, 
head chief of the Winnebago nation, was very sick, 
suffering from fever and old wounds. His medicine 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 559 

men had been unable to relieve him, and, learning that 
I was in his vicinity, he sent out several of his tribe to 
search for me and beg me to come to him. I was easily 
found, and to their importunities I readily assented. 
Once within his camp he told me I should not go out 
again until he was cured. Inasmuch as it is not an 
uncommon thing for chiefs to order the execution of a 
medicine man who fails to cure distinguished patients of 
the tribe, I was not in a very rapturous frame of mind 
when I took charge of Wee-noo-sheik. His condition 
became a matter of extreme importance to me, though I 
betrayed no feeling of anxiety, as I did not regard the 
case as a very dangerous one in the beginning, but I gave 
him my very best professional services. He did not re- 
cover as rapidly so I wished, or expected, but in about 
three weeks the old chief was able to go out of the teepee 
again and resume his usual occupations, smoking and 
hunting. Directly after his recovery he called a council 
of his people, at which, with much ceremony, I was for- 
mally adopted into the tribe and made medicine chief of 
?he nation, a position which I still ostensibly hold." 

In 1877 White Beaver removed to Lanesboro, Minne- 
sota, where he established himself as a practicing physi- 
cian, and soon there came to him more patients than he 
could accommodate. His fame as a skilful surgeon had 
grown until it spread over the entire northwest, and there 
was little need for him to make special efforts to enlarge 
his professional calls. But, like nearly all western char- 
acters, he had dropped into the customs of army officers, 
who, to dissipate the tedium of camp life, in the absence 
of all refining influence, dissipate themselves. This was 
very unfortunate for him, because of the disposition 
which came uppermost when under the influence of 
drink. He is no longer a victim of this vice, but, being 



560 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

at .ill times as frank as his name, with never anything to 
conceal, he often speaks of regretful adventures which 
he might have escaped. Notwithstanding his occasional 
sprees, the people of Lanesboro were warmly attached to 
him, and when two years ago he decided to leave there 
for more fertile fields, a petition was gotten up and 
signed by every person in town beseeching him to remain 
with them. 

While practicing in Lanesboro he was called profes- 
sionally to Elliota, a small town in Fillmore County, and 
while there he became involved in a quarrel with a large 
and powerful Norwegian, a desperado of well earned 
reputation as a fighter and man-slayer. An insult had 
been given which White Beaver resented with a blow of 
his fist ; the Norwegian quickly drew a large dagger and 
made an overhand strike, but the knife was arrested by 
catching on the two first fingers of White Beaver's left 
hand, chopping a large piece of flesh from the first finger 
and splitting the middle one its entire length. At »the 
second stroke he caught the knife blade squarely in his 
right hand so that the guard stuck in the lrfwer portion 
and the blade ran across, the edge inward. No one can 
imagine a more cruel grip, for the knife cut with a grind- 
ing, crunching noise, through flesh and tendon and almost 
through the bones themselves. Here was a test of nerve 
rarely, if ever before, exhibited ; a man who can hold a 
sharp dagger in his hand while his combatant is wrench- 
ing and trying to make the knife cut its way out, cer- 
tainly has a marvelous amount of reserve force. But 
White Beaver knew that his only hope lay in preventing 
the knife from being wrenched from his grasp, so he 
heroically held out until, by reaching with his bleeding 
left hand back and around his own body to the right side, 
he drew a revolver from his belt and quickly shot three 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 



56) 



bullets into the Norwegian's abdomen with deadly effect. 
White Beaver's hand will always remain badly disfigured 
from the knife wounds which he received in this desper- 
ate encounter. 




COMBAT WITH THE NORWEGIAN. 

In 1879, while still a resident of Lanesboro, a party of 
Indians visited White Beaver and made their camp about 



5(52 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

two miles from the town, on Root River. On the nisjht 
of their arrival White Beaver paid them a visit in com- 
pany with a young man named Mack Donaldson, now 
a resident of Sioux Falls, Dakota, from whom I learned 
the particulars of the affair which follows : The Beaver 
shook hands and spoke to several of the Indians in their 
native tongue, a language which he converses in with the 
same fluency as in English. All the Indians seemed de- 
lighted to see him, save one, who sat apart from the rest, 
with his features hidden under a large red blanket. Upon 
inquiring the cause of his sulkiness, Big Fire, a chief, 
told White Beaver that the man was a Sioux who had 
married a Winnebago squaw, and was going with them to 
see her at Black River Falls. The Beaver then approached 
the disguised Indian with a friendly salutation, to which 
he received the following reply : "White Beaver had bet- 
ter keep his voice within his throat ; Sioux braves do not 
talk to pale-faced long knives who feast on cut-throat 
blood." This expression cannot be well understood 
without some explanation. "Dakota," in the Sioux 
tongue, signi ties " cut-throats," by which name the Sioux 
call themselves. * ' Melahoskas " is the Indian expres- 
sion for soldiers who carry long knives — swords. This 
Indian who had made the insulting reply to White Beaver, 
had met him in Dakota during a w T ar between the soldiers 
and the Sioux when White Beaver fought in the front 
ranks ; he still felt angry, ready to fight on small provo- 
cation and for these reasons he used the language quoted. 
White Beaver pulled aside the blanket which concealed 
the Indian's features and recognized a Sioux belonging to 
Crazy Horse's band, and an Indian with whom he had 
had some trouble in 1875. When the blanket was drawn 
aside the Indian, very irate at the act, drew a revolver 
and snapped it three times at White Beaver, but as it did 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 563 

not discharge he started to run. Mack Donaldson fired a 
small pistol at the Indian without noticeable effect, while 
White Beaver ran to a log on which he had laid his rifle 
and as the Indian plunged into the water he fired, sending 
a bullet through his victim's body. All the Indians ap- 
peared glad that they were thus rid of a troublesome 
companion, who they asserted had been ugly during the 
entire journey. White Beaver and Donaldson recovered 
the body from the river and gave it secret burial, where 
it no doubt still lays. 

The Indian tribes generally, and particularly the Sioux, 
are governed by a strict but unwritten code of morals 
which appear barbaric in observance. It is an exception 
amounting almost to curiosity — a rata avis — to find an 
Indian who will not steal when opportunity offers. I, of 
course, refer only to Indians who have never separated 
from their tribal relations. It is also very rare to find 
one who has any conception of truth or honor. They 
are uncleanly, I may say filthy, have little or no regard 
for their conjugal partners as a rule, expose their persons 
without a suggestion of modesty ; and yet, with all these 
brutalizing instincts they observe that rigid moral senti- 
ment which forbids that sensual indulgence so common 
among all other peoples. There are such beings as libid- 
inously immoral Indian women, but they are singularly 
few, a fact which would be almost remarkable but for the 
punishment that is provided and practiced to force the 
women to be virtuous. It is not always that such cruel 
means are resorted to, but on the other hand the punish- 
ment is not infrequently inflicted. A case in point will 
serve to illustrate the barbarism to which I have refer- 
ence. In the year 1878, after White Beaver had returned 
to civilization again to pursue his professional calling, 
upon an occasion he visited a band of Sioux Indians on 



5«4 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



their reservation near Camion Ball River. It chanced 
that during this visit an Indian girl was detected in a fla- 
grant relation with a young buck, and as the discovery 




was made by a rejected suitor he sought his revenge by 
reporting the facts to his chief. The girl was accordingly 
apprehended and the proofs being incontestable she was 
duly sentenced to death ; the manner of her execution 



LIFE OF whIte beaver. 505 

was decided by the chief, who ordered that she be torn 
asunder by two horses, one to be hitched to her arms and 
the other to her feet, and then driven apart. This exhi- 
bition of cruel savagery was prepared for and was upon 
the point of being carried out when White Beaver inter- 
posed all his influence as a medicine chief, to which he 
added threats of speedy punishment of the chief if the 
intended execution were not prevented. A row ensued, in 
which White Beaver killed one Indian and then drew his 
revolver upon the chief, declaring his intention to shoot if 
further molestation occurred. By this exhibition of bra- 
very, his own influence, and threats that the government 
would certainly bring the offenders to a dreadful justice, 
he at length prevailed upon the Sioux to release their in- 
tended victim and send her out of the camp. This rigid 
discipline of female morals has such an effect that what- 
ever the exposure or opportunity, officers and soldiers at 
the frontier posts have declared to me that a dissolute In- 
dian woman is rarely seen once in a soldier's lifetime, a 
statement which my own observation leads me to believe. 



CHAPTER V. 

In the year 1878 White Beaver made the best invest- 
ment of his life, as well as the wisest ; this fortunate 
step being no less than his marriage to Miss Bertie Brock- 
way, of Minneapolis, one of the most amiable and charm- 
ing little women I ever met ; she is an aggregation of 
noble characteristics, such as serve to make the very 
name of woman revered by gentlemen who can appreciate 
so God-like a creation. The refined, cultured influence 
of this lady has subdued the recklessness of her husband, 

34 



566 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

and subordinated his superficial life to the purer and 
nobler nature which lay deep within him ; she has been 
to him like the sunlight to transplanted, precious seed 
that had before sent up only unattractive shoots in 
some rocky, shaded place. Instead of the teepee and 
smoke from the camp-fire which once he courted, White 
Beaver now lives among flower beds, rich paintings, mu- 
sic's soothing and elevating influence, in a home where 
the sunlight of a high life streams gloriously upon all his 
surroundings, and where the chill of discontent never en- 
ters. Thus has his wife brought him back to what he 
pined for but never before understood, love's shrine, and 
here he daily makes his well accepted sacrifices. 

In the year 1881, at the solicitation of Buffalo Bill, 
White Beaver consented to make a short tour as a mem- 
ber of the former's theatrical combination. He was cast 
in an important part, and though wholly without prepar- 
ation, he acted it with credit. It was through his influ- 
ence that a band of Winnebago Sioux Indians were se- 
cured to travel with the great scout's show, and thereby 
added much to the success of the season. The tour was 
not without its incidents ; two old time friends, scouts, 
Indian fighters and bordermen, such as Buffalo Bill and 
White Beaver could not long remain together without giv- 
ing some evidence or outcropping of their previous lives ; 
both being men of iron nerves, fearless under all condi- 
tions that can be mentioned, they were like a lion that, 
long caged, is loosed again in his native jungle : he first 
looks dazed, and contemplates his suroundings as in a 
dream, then plunges headlong into covert declaiming to 
the woodland round about his freedom. From stage ac- 
cessories the two comrades turned instinctively to stories 
of their wonderful adventures, and disported again in 
memory on the great plains which are fast becoming a 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 567 

mighty harvest field. It was next to impossible for them, 
thus associated, to confine their attention to the enact- 
ment of scenes through which they had so often passed, 
and it was for this reason, being ever mindful of their 
restraints, that White Beaver returned to the practice of 
his profession before the season was concluded. I must 
chronicle one escapade, however, which transpired before 
he gave up his engagement : While the company was 
playing at the Olympic Theater, in Chicago, three of the 
Indians became drunk and began to have a grand war 
dance in the property room of the theater during the per- 
formance ; they created such a disturbance that several 
of the ladies in the audience became very much fright- 
ened and were beginning to leave. Buffalo Bill was in 
the middle of an act, so White Beaver took it upon him- 
self to quell the noisey savages. He thereupon ran down 
into the room and found Long Trailer, Decorah, and 
Brave Bear dancing and singing a war-song with vocifer- 
ous gusto. The Beaver ordered them to cease, where- 
upon Long Trailer made a vicious blow at him with a war 
club. White Beaver evaded the blow, and having a 
heavily loaded whip in his hand struck the hostile on the 
head and laid him out unconscious. The other two Indi- 
ans came to the rescue of their unfortunate comrade, but 
they received a dose fully as large ; at this juncture Buf- 
falo Bill, who had rung down the curtain, made his ap- 
pearance, and in less time than the facts can be told the 
three Indians were bound and in a helpless condition on 
the floor. One of them remained with Buffalo Bill, but 
the other two returned to Wisconsin, where it is said 
Long Trailer died from the effects of the blow given him 
in this rencontre. 

In 1872 White Beaver removed from Lanesboro to La 
Crosse, Wisconsin, where he established a large medical 



5G8 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

institute, and in addition to his practice, which is larger 
than that of any physician in the State, he is pushing the 
sale of his wonderful herbal remedies, White Beaver's 
Cough Cream and his Yosemite Yarrow, well known now 
all over America. His institute in its interior decorations 
is a marvel of beauty and artistic selection and arrange- 
ment. He has seven large rooms for the accommodation 
of both sexes : two reception rooms, a large laboratory, 
two operating rooms, an office, and a large packing room. 
The two reception rooms are furnished not only sumptu- 
ously, but with a skill for harmonious effects. In the 
ladies' room is an elegant set of furniture, the richest car- 
pets, fine oil paintings, a playing fountain of cologne-wa- 
ter, large fresh bouquets and numerous bric-a-brac 
decorations. In the gentlemen's room there is an 
exhibition of rich mementoes and rare trophies, indicative 
of his pride, habits and proclivities. The ceiling and 
walls are arched, festooned and otherwise elaborately 
decked with memorials and souvenirs of his friends, gifts 
from both Indians and white men. Almost covering the 
ceiling is an immense buffalo hide, hairless and soft 
tanned, ornamented by Indian hands with colored twine 
and beads. There are pictures on the walls of celebrated 
Indian chiefs whose names are most familiar to American 
history. There is also the skull of Little Crow, who 
planned and executed the direful Minnesota massacre of 
1802. There are also skulls of other Indians who have 
played conspicuous parts in border warfare, and Indian 
pipes of curious workmanship, arrows, bones, stone im- 
plements, mound relies, specimens of fancy bead work, 
buck-skin clothes, guns and pistols of both ancient and 
modern make, all being the gifts of friends. 

White Beaver still maintains his great influence among 
the Winnebago Indians. Those living in the vicinity of 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 5(39 

Black River Falls, fifty miles from La Crosse, several 
hundred in number, consult him upon every political step 
contemplated by the tribe ; in this way he has several 
times been before the Indian Commissioner in their be- 
half. His word is law among them ; only a short time 
ago an Indian became insane and in his mad frenzy beat 
his mother's brains out with a club ; for this act he was 
regularly tried, according to the customs of the Indians, 
and sentenced to be shot. The facts accidentally reached 
White Beaver, who at once wrote a letter to chief, Big 
Fire, advising him not to shoot the young man, who was 
unaccountable for his acts, but to have him sent to the 
insane asylum. The letter was read, and its contents be- 
ing imparted to the tribe they with one accord accepted 
the advice and acted upon it. He has been offered every 
inducement within the gift of any Indian tribe, time and 
again, to go with them and be their medicine chief. They 
regard him as one having direct relations with the Great 
Spirit and believe that if he would abide with them they 
could never be subject to pestilence or misfortune. Such 
is the power which the superior mind of a resolute, intel- 
lectual white man may exercise over the Indians, who 
still see in the disturbed or peaceful elements the wrath 
or pleasure of the Creator. 

In addition to his other qualifications peculiarly fitting 
him for a life on the plains, he is an expert pistol and rifle 
shot, in fact there are perhaps not a half-dozen persons 
in the United States who are his superiors ; his precision 
is not so great now as it once was, for the reason that dur- 
ing the past three or four years he has had very little 
practice, but even now he would be regarded as an expert 
among the most skilful. For dead-center shooting at 
stationary objects he never had a superior ; his eyesight 
is more acute than an eagle's, which enables him to dis- 



570 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

tinguish and hit the head of a pin ten paces distant, and 
this shot he can perform now nine times out of ten. 
Any of his office employes will hold a copper cent be- 
tween their fingers and let him shoot it out at ten paces, 
so great is their confidence in his skill : he also shoots 
through finger-rings held in the same manner. One very 
pretty fancy shot he does is splitting a bullet on a knife- 
blade, so exactly equally dividing it that the two parts 
will strike in a given mark ; he also suspends objects by 
a hair, and at ten paces cuts the hair, which of course he 
cannot see, but shoots by judgment. Several persons 
have told me that they have seen him shoot a fish line in 
two while it was being dragged swiftly through the water. 
At this writing (October, 1888) White Beaver is having 
made a novel target which, if he succeeds in striking, will 
give him world renown as a rifle-shot. This unique 
arrangement consists in a double circular target, one 
placed behind the other, with a bull's-eye in each near 
the periphery, or within an inch of the outer rim. The 
first one is stationary while the rear one revolves, and 
they are so placed that at each revolution the bull's-eyes 
are brought opposite each other for the instant. It is 
White Beaver's ambition, and I may say, design, to shoot 
through both bull's-eyes while the rear target is revolving. 
To do this will require quicker shooting than has ever yet 
been attempted. The calls on his professional services 
are so great that he has no time to practice with the rifle 
save after nine o'clock at night, and gas-light shooting i- 
not favorable to a rapid development of skill as a marks- 
man, so I think it is doubtful if he ever accomplishes the 
feat which be has Bel about to do. 

A description of White Beaver is not difficult to give, 
because of his striking feature- ; those who see him once 
are so impressed with his bearing that his image is never 



LIFE OF WHITE BEAVER. 571 

forgotten. He is just six feet in height, of large frame, 
and giant muscular development ; a full, round face set 
off by a Grecian nose, a handsome mouth, and black eyes 
of penetrating brilliancy. His hair is long, and hangs 
over his shoulders in raven ringlets. Inaction he is mar- 
vellously quick, afways decisive, and his endurance almost 
equals that of a steam engine. His appearance is that of 
a resolute, high toned gentleman conscious of his power, 
and yet his deference, I may say amiability, attracts 
every one to him. He is, in short, one of the handsomest 
as well as most powerful men among the many great He- 
roes of the Plains. 




Tatanka-e Vo tonka. — Autograph Signature. 



^iJliuJf^udL 



B"2 






SITTING BULL. 



A Sketch of the Celebrated Indian Chief's Life, 

and His Story of the Massacre of 

Gen. Custer and His Men. 

Also, Revelations of Thrilling Incidents Con- 
nected with this Remarkable Battle, by Spotted 
Horn Bull's Wife, an Intelligent Indian 
Woman, who Participated in this Great 
Historical Event. 



CHAPTER I. 

It has been more than seven years since tbe tragic but 
heroic death of Gen. Custer and his brave band on the 
Little Big Horn River. The remembrance of that dire- 
ful day brings a tear to almost every eye, and such heart- 
aches to the friends of the two hundred and forty-six 
heroes who lay down in death together upon the wild hill- 
sides of a remote country. The story of how they died, 
fighting like the Lacedaemonians, has been told a thousand 
times, but never by a survivor, for of all those who stood 
like a rampart about their commander, not one lived 
through the savage hail-storm of bullets and arrows ; 
they left their bleeding corses, piled one upon another, 
with faces always toward the foe, and thus made their 
sacrifice complete, hallowing a spot fit for the yew tree's 
shade. History after history has been compiled, and 
commissioners have visited the battle ground to secure 

573 



574 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

reliable facts concerning the fight. A court of investiga- 
tion was held to examine charges preferred against Major 
Reno, for whose coming and assistance Gen. Custer 
looked so anxiously on the fatal day. But with all these 
efforts many important facts were necessarily omitted 
from all histories and reports, because they could not be 
gathered from inferences. 

Applications have been time and again made to the In- 
dians who participated in the fight, for particulars of the 
battle, but by Sitting Bull's advice they all refused to 
talk on the subject, believing that any admissions regard- 
ing the fight would criminate themselves and lead to their 
condign punishment. I have striven hard to procure re- 
liable incidents of the massacre, seeking all sources, and 
beyond what is recorded in previous editions of this work 
failed to receive anything of additional interest until the 
occasion which I am now about to report. 

After some correspondence with Buffalo Bill, several 
government interpreters, and commanders at various posts 
in the West, I decided to visit Ft. Yates — Standing Rock 
Agency — where Sitting Bull and his tribe are stationed, 
and make a last endeavor to learn how Custer died. This 
visit was made in August (1883) and so well did my en- 
terprise succeed that I have deemed the information then 
gathered of sufficient importance to add it as an appendix 
to " Heroes of the Plains." 

My route to Ft. Yates was by the way of the Northern 
Pacific R. R. to Bismarck, Dakota, and thence by stage, 
sixty-six miles south, where I crossed the Missouri River 
in a skiff late in the evening and took lodgings with the 
store-keeper, Mr. Douglass. Ft. Yates is a considerable 
post so far as houses are concerned, but the force sta- 
tioned there consists of only two hundred and tifty men, 
these being portions of the Seventh Cavalry and Seven- 



SITTING BULL. 5<D 

teenth Infantry. The reservation extends up and down 
the river forty miles, on which there are estimated to be 
seven thousand Sioux, all of whom, except those since 
born, composed the body that massacred Custer. Sitting- 
Bull is, of course, the central figure of his tribe, but 
there are many other chiefs whose valor far transcends 
that with which he is credited, such as Rain-in-the-Face, 
Low-Dog, Gall, and Crow King, who fought Custer with 
such fatal results. 

True democracy flourishes only with the Indians ; the 
chiefs are chosen for their wisdom, by bands, and these 
bands are great or small according to the chief's popular- 
ity ; thus, an Indian may be chief of a band of twenty, 
or of two hundred, for every Indian has the right to for- 
sake his chief and become a member of another band. 
It often occurs that a chief is entirely abandoned, and 
then he becomes, practically, " a private in the rear 
ranks . ' ' 

Sitting Bull is not a chief in the sense the term is used ? 
but is a Moses among his people ; he has almost unlim- 
ited influence among all the tribe, whether chiefs or bucks ; 
some have pronounced him a medicine man, but this he 
disclaims, for he is too cunning to be subjected to a 
daily manifestation of his power. He claims to be a 
prophet ; that he is in direct communion with the Great 
Spirit, who visits his teepee and talks with him face to 
face ; and not only talks, but smokes his pipe and makes 
himself otherwise familiar. 

The career of Sitting Bull, or that for which he has 
credit, is eventful, if not remarkable, especially that por- 
tion since 1875. His war with the government opened in 
the spring of that year. Various depreciations in the 
neighborhood of Fort Buford, on the Missouri River, 
were charged to him, but he denied them. Some settlers 



57() HEROES OF THE PLAIN'S. 

began measures of retaliation, when the prophet became 
greatly enraged, and, gathering about him a strong band, 
refused to live on a reservation, and went into camp on 
the Yellowstone. Then followed his siege of Fort Pease, 
when five hundred Indians endeavored for three months 
to capture the place and its defenders, forty-seven white 
men in all. A regiment of cavalry and some friendly 
Indians were sent to the relief of the garrison, but Sit- 
ting Bull withdrew at their approach, and as soon as the 
troops escorted the besieged away he returned and burned 
the fort. War was then declared against him, and, fail- 
ing to surrender within the ten days allowed, Generals 
Crook, Terry and Gibbon started after him in different 
directions. He checked the advance of General Crook 
by engaging his troops, slaughtered General Custer and 
all his band in an ambush on June 25th, 1876, and effect- 
ed an escape to Canada, where he lived, under the sur- 
veillance of Major Walsh, of the British Mounted Police, 
until the year 1880. 

On Monday, June 14th, a body of Sitting Bull's tribe, 
to the number of five hundred, came down from the 
British territory, and, crossing the Yellowstone, surren- 
dered to Gen. Miles at Ft. Keogh. A smaller party had 
surrendered to Gen. Miles in 1*77, but this was because 
of his active campaign in which the Indians were pursued 
so closely that they were unable to cross the British line. 

Sitting Bull, and about two hundred of his follower-, 
surrendered on the 20th of June, together with their 
arms and ponies, to Major Brotherton, at Ft. Buford. He 
was forced to take this course to save himself and people 
from starvation. They found the British climate too 
Bey ere, while the game of that region was so scarce that 
they could not sustain themselves. The cavalcade, as it 
entered the fort, attracted much attention. It consisted 



578 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

of six army wagons loaded with squaws and children, fol- 
lowed by thirty of Louis Legare's Red River carts well- 
filled with baggage. Sitting Bull himself and his chiefs 
rode their ponies, and refused to dismount or shake hands 
until they arrived at the place fixed upon for their camp. 
Immediately after the surrender, the Indians were placed 
between the Post and the steamboat landing and there re- 
mained secure in Maj. Brotherton's charge until a few 
months after, when they were transferred to Standing 
Rock Agency. 

On the evening of my arrival at Ft. Yates I made the 
acquaintance of several officers at the club room, among 
whom was Capt. McDougal of the 7th Cavalry, who was 
with Maj. Benteen at the time of the Custer massacre, and 
who, with his commanding officer, attacked the Indians 
so savagely that Sitting Bull was compelled to retreat. I 
also met Lieutenant Brennen, of the Seventeenth Infan- 
try, also Captain Greene, Captain Howes, Colonel Stewart 
and others. Announcing to them the object of my visit, 
they volunteered their services to make my trip a success- 
ful one. 

On the following morning I was introduced to Mis. 
McLoughlin, wife of Major McLoughlin the Indian agent. 
This excellent lady is official interpreter for the govern- 
ment, and her influence with the Indians at the post is 
almost equal to that of Sitting Bull himself. Her servi- 
ces to me were invaluable, of which I shall speak here- 
after. 

Shortly before noon a government team was placed at 
my disposal, with a driver, and accompanied by Captain 
.McDougal and Lieut. Brennen, I drove down to Sitting 
Bull's camp, one mile south of the Fort. Upon reach- 
ing the tepee- we learned of a funeral which was then 
taking place, the body being that of Sitting Bull's nephew, 



SITTING BULL. 579 

sixteen years old, who had died the day previous of a 
lung trouble contracted while he was attending school in 
the southern part of the territory. This opportunity I 
could not forego, so at my solicitation we drove over the 
hills two miles or more, and came upon the funeral pro- 
cession, if such it can be called, just as the body was be- 
ing deposited. It is the custom of the Sioux to hang 
their dead up on the branches of trees, when in a wooded 
country, but when their camp is on the prairie they erect 
scaffolds about ten feet in height, upon the top of which 
their dead are laid. 

The corpse of Sitting Bull's nephew had been prepared 
for deposition the evening previous to my visit, this prep- 
aration consisting in swathing the body with all the cloth- 
ing owned by the deceased, including the allowance 
shortly before made him by the government, and around 
these were two blankets, the whole being bound with 
ropes, so that no part of the body was left uncovered. 
Lamentations were then made over the corpse all night, 
not, as might be supposed, by the relations, but by four 
old women who were engaged to do all the crying. It is 
a rare thing to see an Indian crying, as it is esteemed dis- 
graceful, so there are professional mourners who eng:ige 
themselves to display the grief supposed to be felt by the 
friends and relatives of deceased persons. Frequently, 
when there is extreme grief over a death, the distressed 
persons will cut off a finger or toe as an evidence of their 
feelings. 

Bodies are taken to the place of final deposit by tying 
them on a travois*, with head toward the ground. It 
was thus the body we followed was conveyed to the scaf- 



* A travois is made of interlaced withes fastened to two poles, or shafts, 
the open ends being allowed to drag on the ground, and is drawn by a single 
horse. 



580 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

fold, made ready to receive it three weeks before, when 
his father died and was deposited on a scaffold large 
enough to receive another corpse. 

The procession, so-called, consisted of four old women 
and their children, the professional mourners previously 
spoken of. Indian men never attend a funeral unless it 
is that of a chief. We arrived at the scaffold in time to 
see the women make a temporary ladder up which they 
climbed and carried the body, with extreme difficulty, and 
deposited it beside the remains which already lay there. 
I saw no other scaffold on which there was more than one 
body. After the deposition was made, the women threw 
their arms about, tossed their hair and crooned a kind of 
dirge which had neither time nor melody to distinguish it 
from an unrythmic wail ; after crying thus for a time 
they fell to stamping the ground and digging with a short 
crow-bar. "We had witnessed these sights from a dis- 
tance, being unwilling to intrude upon so sacred an occa- 
sion ; as we drove up the lamentations suddenly ceased 
and gave place to stares of curiosity. One of the old 
women, engaged as mourner, told us she had been em- 
ployed to cry so much recently that she could scarcely 
see. The rheumy appearance of her eyes certainly 
confirmed this declaration. Shortly after our departure 
the old women returned to the camp and were succeeded 
by four others. The mourning was thus continued, by 
relays of women, for a period of three days. The dura- 
tion of such manifestations of grief is generally deter- 
mined by the number of ponies left by deceased to pay 
for the service. 

After leaving the cemetery we drove back to Sitting 
Bull's lodge, and being introduced I conducted a long 
conversation with him through Charles McLoughlin, a. 
young son of the Indian agent, as Sitting Bull can scarce- 



SITTING BULL. 



581 







RAIN-IN-THK-FACE. 



35 



582 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ly speak a word of English, though he signs his name 
fairly well — as is seen in his autograph. 

I found him sitting upon the ground, within his tent, 
with six other leading men of his tribe. Capt. McDou- 
gal asked for a pipe, which being produced and filled 
Avith tobacco, was lighted and smoked by the entire party. 
After this friendly ceremony the Captain announced to 
Sitting Bull the purpose of my visit, and assuring him of 
my good intentions toward his people, begged that he 
tell me, without reserve, everything he might know con- 
cerning the Custer Massacre. The cunning prophet made 
no reply for several minutes, smoking his pipe vigorously 
in the meantime, evidently debating with himself the 
advisability of his actions. At length he said : 

"I was not in the fight and know nothing about it, 
save what my warriors have told me." 

Again Capt. McDougal besought him to abandon his 
reserve, and, for the sake of history, and that justice 
might be done his people aud himself, to disclose what 
he knew concerning the battle ; how it was conducted, 
what orders he had given, who killed Custer, and all 
other information he possessed. His answer I will give 
in my own language as it was, in effect, interpreted to 
me : 

" I need not tell you how we have been deceived by 
the white people, for if you arc friendly you know the 
facts, and if you are our enemy you would not believe 
me. The Black Hills country was set aside for us by 
the government ; it was ours by solemn agreement, and 
we made the country our home; we realized how our 
lands had been taken, our reservations circumscribed, my 
people driven like so many wild beasts toward a common 
center to be shot down by encircling soldiery. Our 
homes in the Black Hills were invaded when gold was 



SITTING BULL. 583 

discovered there ; we asked for protection, which was 
promised, but with all our importunities the government 
refused to come to our aid. White thieves committed 
depredations and then accused my people of perpetrating 
the acts. Well, it is no use to tell }'ou more. At last 
we resisted, and that moment the poor despised Indian 
raised his arm to protect his wife, children and his own, 
the government to which we looked for the aid that had 
been promised, let loose the army upon us to kill without 
mercy, exterminate if possible. We fought as brave 
men fight, with no advantages but courage to defend 
against usurpers, we met our enemies and honorably de- 
feated them. 

" Now it is asked, why do I refuse to talk about our 
tight with Custer? You cannot wonder at my silence. 
Every man's rifle is leveled at the Indian's heart; every 
white man cries out, ' let us avenge Custer,' and especial 
hatred is directed against Sitting Bull. I am afraid to 
trust myself away from my people. They have tempted 
me with large offers to travel in the States, but the cars 
would make me sick, and once wholly within their power, 
the white people would starve me to death, because they 
say I murdered Custer. 

" Now I will tell you the truth, after our fight at Fort 
Pease my people concluded to leave our country and 
travel into the British Possessions, where we hoped to 
find plenty of game and have better protection. To 
prepare for this great journey and change, we held our 
annual Sun Dance, being our offering to the Great Spirit. 
It is our belief that we can only come into the presence 
of the Great Spirit through sufferings of the flesh, but 
though the ceremony indicates pain to those who partici- 
pate, yet there is really no suffering when there is an 
acceptance. At the conclusion of the third day of our 



584 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

dance I became unconscious of my material surroundings 
and was awakened in the spirit before the Great Ruler. 
He smoked and then gave to me the peace pipe ; we were 
seated together in a beautiful tepee, and after smoking, 
he said to me, ' Tatanka-e-Yotonka, you are being sur- 
rounded by your enemies ; in seven suns you will .be 
attacked by your ancient foe, the Crow Indians, but over 
these I will give you a victory ; three more suns shall not 
set before your people will have an engagement with 
white soldiers ; the fight will be a terrible one, but your 
enemies will be slaughtered and you shall have a great 
victory. This prophecy you can make to }^our people, 
for they are weary and this will give them courage.' 
After thus speaking the Great Spirit vanished and some 
time during the night I recovered consciousness. I 
prophesied to my people as the Great Spirit directed, and 
that it came to pass as I uttered my people are the wit- 
nesses. 

"The Crow Indians attacked us, but were repulsed 
with heavy losses, so that they molested us no more. On 
the seventh day thereafter, as we were encamped near the 
Rose Bud, a body of soldiers appeared who, I have since 
learned, were commanded by Maj. Reno. They fired 
into us, but being prepared we charged upon them so 
briskly that the troops fled in such a panic that many lost 
their arms, and a large number were killed. We did not 
follow them for fear of an ambush, as I could not under- 
stand why Reno did not make a stand. We drew off 
and in the afternoon my scouts reported another body of 
soldiers approaching. After learning their probable 
strength I directed my warriors to form in the ravines so 
as to be out of view, and leave a horse-shoe gap so as to 
surround the troops when they should enter. 

" My position was across the river from where the bat- 



SITTING BULL. 



585 



tie occurred, as I took it upon myself to direct the fight 
and also take charge of the camp. My orders were de- 
livered by courier to Spotted Eagle, Rain-in-the-Face, 




CROW-KING. 



Crow King, Low Dog, and Gall, and these chiefs partici- 
pated in the battle. 

1 ' The troops discovered my warriors before the gap 
was closed upon them, and with a wild yell they charged 
right down a ravine toward our camp, but upon coming 



586 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

up on the other side the circle was completed about them 
and the battle began. Now, I witnessed little of the 
fight myself, but was kept informed of its progress. 
The firing was terrific, and though the soldiers fought 
with desperation my braves wore better fighters than 
they. The combat lasted I cannot tell how long, as we 
do not compute time like the white people, but I should 
judge not longer than it would require me to walk to the 
fort and return (two miles). The firing gradually grew 
less and when it had almost ceased a messenger came and 
told me that all the soldiers had been killed. 

" As I started toward the battle-ground I saw five of 
my braves chasing a soldier over the hills. They were 
on horses and all running with great speed. I watched 
them until they had disappeared in the distance. The 
pursuers, who were braves of my tribe, returned some 
time after and reported that they had been pursuing an 
officer, who being well mounted would certainly have es- 
caped, but that just as they were about giving over the 
chase, the officer drew a pistol and placing it against his 
head blew his brains out. The pursuers brought back 
with them a portion of the suicide's clothing. My braves, 
who had won the battle, collected what material, arms, 
ammunition, clothing and money they could find on the 
battle-ground, and then started northward. Up to this 
time I did not know we had been fighting Gen. Custer, 
and nothing ever surprised me more than the report which 
came to me a long time after the battle, that my warriors 
had killed Custer. We knew that the General wore long 
hair, and it was by this peculiarity we expected to dis- 
tinguish him. Since the return of my people to Fort 
Yates I learn that Custer's coat of buckskin was stripped 
from the dead body of the General by one of my braves 
who afterward wore it until his death, and was buried 



SITTING BULL. 587 

in it. I did not learn this, however, until after the death 
of the brave. 

" On the night after the battle our tents were struck 
and we started northward, expecting an attack on the fol- 
lowing day. My warriors were very tired, and had the 
pursuit been an active one we would, no doubt, have been 
overcome. Had not Maj. Benteen joined forces with 
Maj. Reno when we had the latter surrounded in the 
woods, there would have been few soldiers left in the 
three commands to tell the story of their disaster. 

" No one can tell who killed Gen. Custer, it is impos- 
sible because of two facts : ( 1 ) None of my braves 
knew Custer, and ( 2 ) the tumult and smoke of the bat- 
tle were so great that combatants were often obscured en- 
tirely, and the fighting was therefore promiscuous. None 
of my people ever boasted to me that they had killed 
Custer. 

" I have now told you all that I know in regard to the 
fight with Custer. I can't see why the white people hold 
me responsible for his death ; the soldiers attacked us 
and we fought to defend ourselves. If all my people 
had been slaughtered the whites would have been glad. 
I am now at peace, however, and do not want to speak 
ill of the government. I hope our peace may endure. 
I have only one ambition now, and that is to live the re- 
mainder of my days with my children and people. I 
feel that my life will not long endure : a lung trouble has 
afflicted me for more than a year, and seems to grow 
gradually worse. Many offers have been made me to 
travel through the country and show myself, but no in- 
ducements could prevail. I never rode on the cars and 
fear such travel would make me sick ; besides, I would 
not trust myself with the whites, who would starve me. 
My delight is to have my children with me every day, 
and here among my people will I die." 



588 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

This closed my interview with the wily warrior, and 
though short, it was far more satisfactory than I had dared 
to hope for. Sitting Bull impresses all who see him with 
his genius, not particularly as a warrior but as a states- 
man or tactician. He has a noble, kindly face, and an 
eye that disclose* his trait of acute observation. His 
stature is tall and commanding, broad of chest and strong 
in limb. He declared his age as forty-four, but as In- 
dians, as a rule, cannot compute time, his statement does 
not appear wilfully absurd ; I should judge his age to be 
about sixty-five. 

The story which Sitting Bull tells of an officer who was 
pursued and who shot himself to escape capture is authen- 
ticated by a discovery made by Gen. Sherman two or 
three years ago, when on a visit to the battle ground. 
Six or seven miles from the field of disaster, the General, 
with his party, came upon the skeleton of a man with 
remnants of officer's clothing still adhering to it. An ex- 
amination of the skull disclosed gold filling in several of 
the teeth, and served to identify the skeleton as that of 
Lieutenant Harrington, of the 7th U. S. Cavalry, who was 
with Custer. 



CHAPTER II. 

STORY OF CHIEF SPOTTED HORN BULL'S SQUAW, A PAR- 
TICIPANT IN THE CU8TEB MASSACRE. 



Among the Sioux Indians there is a squaw, La- 
kotah by name, the wife of chief Spotted Horn Bull 
(Tatanka-ha-gle-ska), who, by her bravery and intelli- 
gence, has risen to a position of influence among the tribe 



SITTING BULL. 



589 



far superior to that of her husband, and second only to 
Sitting Bull himself. A short time before my visit to 
Ft. Y^tes this dusky Amazon had a combat with the great 




GALL. 



warrior chief Gall, who so distinguished himself in the 
Custer fight. Report states that Gall had attempted to 
form a matrimonial alliance with an Indian girl regardless 
of the fact that his wife was still sharing his tepee and 



590 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

the government allowances with him. Gall's wife is a 
cousin of Mrs. Spotted Horn Bull, and she took such um- 
brage at him for trying to displace her relative that, 
set ting aside all attempts to reason or compromise, she 
challenged the chief to an encounter ; the challenged failed 
to afford her satisfaction, so she forced a fight by attack- 
ing Gall in front of Mr. Douglass' Government store. 
The scene which followed is represented as having been 
exciting in the extreme. Gall first acted entirely on the 
defensive, but he soon became aggressive only to bring 
upon himself a distressing defeat, for the heroic squaw 
beat him so badly that, after his features were chewed 
out of shape, he howled for mercy, and to escape further 
punishment gladly promised to restore his wife and for- 
ever after abandon reckless courtships. 

Spotted Horn Bull is not generally reputed to be a 
brave or able chief, natural faults which his wife has long 
perceived, and, possibly, to the end that the family may 
not be wholly without honor among the tribe ; or, follow- 
ing an inherited inclination to seek glory in the field of 
strife, she disdains the occupation of her sex, and has sev- 
eral times been an active warrior in the fighting ranks of her 
tribe. Her last exploit was as a participant in the bloody 
meeting with Custer, in which she rode a white pony that 
was always where the fight was hardest; her carbine did 
terrible execution, and her bravery so incited the Indians 
that they made the massacre complete. Intrepid daring, 
however, is not Lakotah's only characteristic, for she is 
acknowledged to be the smartest member of hertribe. Un- 
like Silt in- Bull (to whom she bears the relation of cous- 
in), who is always suspicious and stubborn, she is frank, 
good-humored, and is glad of an opportunity to talk 
about the Custer massacre, though never vauntingly of 
herself. Mrs. McLaughlin, to whom I have previously 



SITTING 11LLL. 



5111 



referred, having told me that Lacotah could give me a 
better description of the fight than any other Indian, I 
appealed to her to arrange an interview that I might hear 




the squaw's interesting story. At my solicitation, there- 
fore, Mrs. McLaughlin drove down to the Indian camp 
and brought Lacotah up to her house, where, as per ar- 
rangement, I met her. After an introduction — a state- 



592 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ment of my purposes — a request was made by Mrs. 
McLaughlin that Lakotah relate to me a full description 
of the fight as well as the antecedent and subsequent facts 
calculated to give a more definite idea of the dreadful 
massacre. With Mrs. McLaughlin acting as interpreter, 
the Indian woman told me the story of that horrible ho- 
locaust substantially as follows, conveying her meaning 
in my own language : 

"I will leave it to others to tell you of the wrongs 
done my people by the Government and its soldiers. Th e 
Custer Massacre was a consequence of this treatment, and 
if it teaches the father at Washington to do us justice 
hereafter I shall be glad, but I now fear that instead of 
serving to improve our miserable condition it will cause 
the soldiers to seek revenge by increasing the severities 
from which we suffer. But I will now only talk to you 
about our fight with Custer. 

" Eleven days before the battle we were encamped with- 
in fifty miles of the place where the engagement took 
place, on a small creek called Greasy Grass ; I do not 
know the English name for it. In this place our people 
held a religious ceremony, our Sun Dance, to show the 
Great Spirit that our hearts were always toward him and 
to ask for His protection. Among the number who bore 
the tortures of that ceremony, by piercing the muscles of 
his breast and thus suspending himself from the pole, 
was Sitting Bull. There were six other chiefs who cut 
themselves and Mere bound to the pole, but they all 
fainted or broke their bonds the first day. Sitting Bull 
remained in one attitude for two days, looking always 
toward the sun, and never showing any signs of suffer- 
ing or weakness from loss of blood. In all this time he 
tasted neither food nor water, but the third morning he 
went into a sleep and we knew he was holding a coun- 



SITTING BULL. 593 

cil with the Great Spirit. I forced food and water into 
his mouth, bathed his wounds and watched beside him 
until night, when he opened his eyes and then told how 
he had been counseled to act by the Great Spirit ; he 
also prophesied a battle with the Crow Indians, and 
with Custer (at this point she related the same story 
told to me by Long Soldier, which I have given in 
the chapter devoted to Sitting Bull's account of the bat- 
tle). 

"Two days after the Sun Dance was concluded, and 
according to Sitting Bull's prophecy, a large war party 
of Crows attacked us, but after fighting all day they 
were driven off into the Wolf Mountains, several of their 
warriors being killed ; our loss was only seven. 

" On the morning after the battle with the Crows, we 
broke camp and moved on to the Little Big Horn, where, 
finding plenty of water and grass, we went into camp 
again. 

"To make my story more readily understood — for I 
shall now begin to tell you about the great battle which 
here took place between my people and Gen. Custer — I 
will draw a diagram of our camps and the general posi- 
tion we occupied when the fight began." 

At this point Lakotah called for my pencil, and being 
given a piece of paper she made the following drawing, 
in the execution of which I was very much surprised. 

" The total fighting force of the seven tribes was about 
five thousand, and all of these were first camped on the 
west side of the river, where the ground is nearly level, 
except at a little distance back where the ground rises in a 
bench six or seven feet high. On* the east side of the 
river, however, the land is broken and hilly, while along 
the bank there are precipitous bluffs, the highest being 
marked on the diagram ' K\ Reno threw up his shallow 



594 



HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 



breastworks at ' G,' at which point the land is two hun- 
dred feet above the river, rising very abruptly. It was 
from this side of the river and over these hills the United 
States soldiers approached. 

" It was to the bluff point marked ' K' that captains 
Benteen and Wier rode to discover the position of Gen. 
Custer, but being unable to sight him, and seeing the 




DIAGRAM OF THE BATTLE FIELD. 



A — Blackfeet camp. 

B — Uncapapa camp. 

C — Ogallala and Sans Arc camp. 

D — Brule camp. 

E — Cheyenne camp. 

F — Minneconjoux camp. 



G — Reno's breastworks. 
H — Custer monument. 
/ — Small coolie and stream. 
K — High point of bluff. 
L — Reno's retreat crossing. 
M — Line of first bench. 



large Indian camp, they fell back to support Reno. In 
the meantime, however, Reno had crossed the river — 
which was anywhere easily forded — at ' L,' and attacked 
the Indians in the rear. This was on the morning of 
Juno 25th. On this same date seven Cheyennes had been 
sent out to join Chief Spotted Tail ; five of this number 
got through, but the other two stopped on the bluff and 
from a high point signaled with their blankets the ap- 



SITTING BULL. 595 

proach of a large body of soldiers, which afterward 
proved to be Custer. 

" When Keno opened fire from the west bank, he 
seemed to have little or no idea of the number of Indians 
to whom he was opposed. He dismounted his men, and 
leaving; one man to guard four horses, which of course 
diminished his fighting forces one quarter, he rushed onto 
the camp. It happened that very few warriors were in 
camp at the time, as more than half of them were after 
the pony herd, so that with the first fire there was a panic 
among the women and children that I cannot undertake 
to describe. We all expected to be massacred, and there 
was not the least resistance manifested, when suddenly, 
and for a most unaccountable reason, Reno's men became 
panic-striken and retreated back across the river in such 
wild disorder that scores were killed by our men ; even 
little boys followed in the rout and pulled soldiers from 
their horses and killed them. After crossing the river the 
retreat continued up a hill so steep that unless badly 
frightened a man could scarcely climb it. 

Lakotah several times repeated her disgust at the action 
of the whites, and the only explanation she could give for 
the retreat was that Reno saw, when he got into it, how 
large the Indian village was and was seized with a panic 
greater than that among the Indians themselves. That 
the latter was very decided, however, was proven by the 
fact that the warriors hurriedly returning with the quick- 
ly rounded herds, met many fugitives from the camp and 
feared the worst on their own return. 

" Very soon after Reno's retreat the blare of Custer's 
trumpets was heard ; messengers soon reported his prob- 
able force and the work of surprise and hemming him in 
was begun. The braves w r ho were after the pony herd 
had now returned, and the whole fighting force crossed 



59(3 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Little Big Horn and, being hidden by the hills, surround- 
ed Custer before he was probably aware that there were 
so many Indians in the vicinity. When the whites had 
marched under the high ledge of rocks, suddenly our 
force of five thousand rose up and fell upon them on 
every side. The whites first dismounted and fought, but 
seeing how they had been surrounded, and that there was 
little hope for their escape, they remounted again. For 
nearly half an hour the tight was terrible, as our braves 
were all as well armed as the soldiers. The valley be- 
came so full of smoke that it was like a dense fog, and 
the noise and confusion was dreadful. After that time 
there was a gradual cessation of the firing and in less 
than an hour we had killed every soldier and the battle- 
ground was left to us. 

"I am not sure, but I think that I saw Gen. Custer, 
though I did not know him at the time, fighting desper- 
ately about one hundred yards from where he fell ; I 
certainly saw a leading officer of the troops whose de- 
scription answered that of Custer. This man, wiioever 
he was, showed wonderful bravery, so that many of our 
warriors tried to kill him for the honor that the deed 
would confer, but I do not know who killed him, and 1 
am almost certain that no one else knows, for the confu- 
sion made it impossible to tell what execution any Indian 
did." 

Custer and his command killed, the Sioux again turned 
their attention to the troops on the hill, and the woman, 
resuming the story, laughed gleefully as she told what 
fun the bucks had shooting at the soldiers as they ran 
that terrible gauntlet, down the hill to the river, for wa- 
ter. The Custer men were soon stripped, of course, and 
the only way the Indians knew they had killed the Long- 
Haired Chief was by his buckskin coat trimmed with 



SITTING BULL. 



597 




36 



598 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

beaver, which they found on his person. Lakotah says 
the Sioux lost thirty killed and more than twice as many 
wounded, but the loss was no doubt very much greater 
than this estimate. Among the killed were boys of 
twelve and fourteen, who, in the ardor of young warrior- 
hood, rushed across the river on their ponies and into the 
thickest of the fight. She mentioned two boys who were 
wounded ; one, a young Achilles, in the heel, and another 
in the right arm, which was shot off. Both recovered 
nnd neither of them is yet twenty, though seven years 
have passed since they counted their first coups. It was 
with a tone of most noticeable regret that the woman 
told of the quantities of bank notes found and wasted, 
as being utterly ignorant of the value of the curiously 
painted parallelograms of green paper. 

Of course, feasting and laudation were the order of the 
day and night succeeding the slaughter, but the news of 
Terry's approach with his command compelled a hasty 
breaking up of the camp. She says they marched day 
and night for several days, and soon the whole band was 
safe in the fastnesses of the Big Horn mountains, where 
they remained some time before a separation took place, 
and the Uneapapas and portions of other tribes went 
north. The squaw's story was told straightforwardly 
and beyond question she believes it true, every word. 

Among the many brave and noble-hearted men who 
fell with Gen. Custer were his two younger brothers, 
Boston and Tom Custer, Lieutenant James Calhoun, his 
brother-in-law, and Autie Reed, a young hero, his 
nephew ; all these dropped out at once, as it were, from 
the family circle. Every man in Calhoun's company 
died in the ranks; there was no scattering to indicate 
either panic or retreat, but with the ranks all closed up 
the company fell as though every man had been struck 



SITTING BULL. 



599 



with one fatal bolt of lightning. Lieut. John J. Crit- 
tenden, Col. Cook, Capt. Yates, Lieut. Riley, in short 
every one of those who participated and fell in that 
dreadful fray were as gallant men as ever went forth to 
battle or lay- life upon the sacrificial altar of their coun- 




try. Though mangled by bullet and arrow, discrowned 
by the savage scalping-knife, divested of their country's 
uniform which would have been most fitting cerements for 
such patriotic heroes, let us believe that at the final roll- 
call these evidences of Indian desecration will prove their 
passport into the highest, holiest life. 




CA1T. JACK, 
(The Poet Scout.) 



GOO 



A SKETCH OF CAPT. JACK, 

THE POET SCOUT. 



Captain John W. Crawford, known to fame as Capt. 
Jack, the Poet Scout of the Black Hills, is a native of 
County Donegal, Ireland, where he was born in the year 
1848, of prominent parents, his mother being a lineal 
descendant of Sir William Wallace. In 1852 the elder 
Crawford left Ireland for America, but shortly after his 
arrival in this country he fell into evil ways, and gave 
such license to a previously acquired appetite for strong 
drink that thenceforward he neglected all his duties as 
husband and father. 

In 1856, however, Mrs. Crawford came over to Amer- 
ica and joined her husband at Minersville, Pennsylvania, 
where he was prosecuting his trade as tailor with indiffer- 
ent success. But a year of hard labor and economy 
enabled the mother to save sufficient from her 
scanty earnings to send for her children, four in num- 
ber. 

The following incident, which I have taken the liberty 
to copy from a prefatory life sketch of Capt. Jack, pub- 
lished in his recent book of poems, entitled, " The Poet 
Scout," will illustrate the disadvantages of his early 
youth, the incentive of his future actions, and the domes- 
tic sufferings of his beloved mother : 

"It was at the close of a hard day's march during Cus- 
ter's campaign on the Yellowstone, and the command 
had toiled through long miles of rough country, in the 

601 



602 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

midst of a rain storm such as is known only in the Rocky 
Mountains. The officers were seated around the camp- 
fire trying to extract some warmth from the smouldering 
buffalo chips, when one of them produced from his sad- 
dle-bags a canteen of whisky, and taking a long draught, 
with the remark, ' this is the soldier's best friend,' passed 
it to Captain Jack Crawford . 

" ' Thank you, Captain, but I never drink.' 

" * Never drink ! ' responded the officer, ' why it is al- 
most incredible ; you are the first man I ever met with on 
the plains who refused good liquor.' 

" 'Yes, Jack,' said several of the others who were in- 
terested listeners to the conversation, * tell us how it is 
you are so strict a temperance man.' 

" ' That stuff you are drinking,' responded the scout, 
1 robbed me of a good father, made him forget his own 
flesh and blood, and changed him from a man to a brute. 
That is not my only reason. Years ago, when my poor 
mother was on her death-bed, she called me to her side, 
and holding out her thin white hand, asked me to prom- 
ise in the presence of my brothers and sisters, and in the 
invisible presence of God, that my lips should never 
touch the destroyer. Gentlemen, I consider that that 
vow is registered in heaven, and I have kept it. I do not 
even know the taste of liquor. Is my reason satisfac- 
tory?"' 

The misfortune which an ungovernable desire for 
strong drink invariably precipitates, so wrecked the 
Crawford family that at a very early age little Jack was 
compelled to contribute to the support of his mother with 
all the earnings his youthful and constant labors could 
create. His education was, in consequence, entirely neg- 
lected, and so little care was given to his instruction that 
not only was he never in a school-house, but at the age 



SKETCH OF CAPT. JACK. 603 

of fifteen, when he left home to enter the Union army, 
there was not a single letter in the alphabet that he knew 
the name of. 

In 18(53 he enlisted as a private in the 48th Regiment 
of Pennsylvania Volunteers, serving under Gen. John F. 
Hartranft, who afterward became Governor of that State. 
At the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, May 12, 
1864, Jack was in the front ranks that led a desperate 
charge on the enemy's works, in which he fell desper- 
ately wounded and was carried back to the field hospital. 
Some days after the battle he was sent to Washington, 
and transferred from there to the Saterlee Hospital in 
West Philadelphia. For many weeks he lay upon a bed 
of terrible suffering, but it chanced that he fell under the 
tender care of a Sister of Charity who nursed him into 
convalescence, and then began to give him lessons, first 
in the A B C's, and then led him along gradually until, 
under her tutelage, he learned to read and write. Hav- 
ing thus become possessed of the primary elements of an 
education, he continued in the acquisition of knowledge, 
unaided, and became at last fairly informed. 

After recovering from his wound, Jack returned to his 
regiment, and remained in active service until the 2d of 
April, 1805, when he was again woundcd,at Petersburg, 
Virginia, and had not recovered when the army disbanded 
at the close of the war. 

In the latter part of 1865 Captain Jack's mother died, 
and being now alone in the world, and moved by a nat- 
ural craving for adventure, he started West, bearing with 
him letters of warm recommendation from Gens. Hart- 
ranft and Sherman, which introduced him favorably to 
frontier army officers, and he soon after found congenial 
service in the Western camps. 

He was one of the first white men to enter the Black 



604 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

Hills, and became the founder of Custer City, Gayville, 
and Spearfish, in Dakotah, and was one of the original 
organizers that laid off the towns of Deadwood and 
Crook City. 

In the Indian campaign of 1876 Capt. Jack was second 
in command of Gen. Crook's scouts, and superseded 
Buffalo Bill as chief on the 24th of August of the same 
year, Bill having resigned to reorganize his theatrical 
company for the season of 1876-77. 

As a horseman and rider Capt. Jack is extraordina- 
rily skillful, while as a scout and Indian fighter he has 
honestly earned great renown. Among his more celebra- 
ted rides may be mentioned one he accomplished in July, 
1876, when in response to a telegram he rode from Med- 
icine Bow, on the Union Pacific railroad, to ilie Rosebud 
and Little Big Horn, a distance of nearly four hundred 
miles in five days. This feat of wonderful speed and en- 
durance was performed, too, through a country literally 
swarming with hostile Indians, several of whose camps 
and villages he was compelled to pass within pistol shot of. 

On another occasion, being engaged as a special mes- 
senger for the New York Herald, whose special corres- 
pondent was with Gen. Crook's army, Capt. -,ack car- 
ried an account of the battle of Slim Buttes to Ft. Lara- 
mie, a distance of three hundred and fifty miles, in less 
than four days. In accomplishing this unprecedented 
ride ho passed five couriers and arrived more than five 
hours in advance of the fastest, but he killed two horses 
in making the journey, for which the Herald allowed him 
$222.75, besides giving him $500 for the service. 

Capt. Jack's adventures have been numerous and 
thrilling, many of which ho has related in verse, which 
he writes with terse fluency and rythm. In 1873 ho join- 
ed Buffalo Bill's troupe and played a leading part for 



SKETCH OF CAPT. JACK. 



605 



two seasons very satisfactorily, but he preferred the wild 
life of the far West and returned to his old home in Da- 
kota. 

During the late war, in 1879, Capt. Jack was employed 
as scout and trailer and was engaged in several of the hot- 
test fights of that campaign. He was well acquainted 
with Chief Oura, whose friendly services he did much to 
secure and through whose influence with his people hostili- 




Oura. 

ties were brought to an early close, and the captive Meeker 
family restored to the whites. Oura's death occurred in 
1880 on the Ute reservation. He was an able chief, pro- 
gressive, intellectual, and ambitious to bring his tribe 
under the civilizing and elevating influence of the white 
people, for whom he ever cherished a warm and friendly 
feeling. 



606 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

As a man Capt. Jack has always enjoyed the greatest 
popularity ; he is a thorough gentleman, an excellent 
scout, good Indian fighter, and his morals have ever been 
regarded as phenomenal by the hardy and generally reck- 
less characters of the frontier. His affection for Buffalo 
Bill approaches veneration, and more than half of his 
poetic effusions are dedicated to or founded upon some 
incident in Bill's life. 

As a poet, Capt. Jack deserves the admiration of every 
one capable of appreciating poetic genius. Deprived of 
all the cultivating influences calculated to suggest the 
sentiment of verse, his own innate, self-created endow- 
ments made nature assert itself, and he has written 
poetry because this manner of expressing his thoughts 
and ideas was more natural to him than prose. There is 
no profound or aesthetic phraseology in his verses, but 
they abound in what is vastly superior : ennobling and 
sublime rhapsodies which reveal the God-given poetic 
gift beneath the uncultured exterior. His style most 
resembles that which distinguishes Bret Harte, which, 
though it is less elegantly rounded with rhetorical finish, 
nevertheless breathes a purer and loftier sentiment, and 
a more divine creation than Sierra's poet can boast of. 

He is still living, in the hey-day of life, and at this date 
(October, 1883,) is mining in Mew Mexico. Whether as 
chief of scouts, town trustee of Custer City, chief of the 
Red Rangers, poet at the banquet table, author, actor, 
or "poorest man on the range," Capt. Jack is always the 
same good-natured, accommodating, generous and genial 
gentleman, with a true heart, and the spirit of devotion 
for his friends. 




TEXAS JACK. 

John B. Omohundro, more familiarly known by the 
title of "Texas Jack," was a native of West Virginia, 
but the exact date of his birth I have never been able to 
learn. 

At the early age of seven years, he ran away from 
home and shipped as a " general utility" boy on a sailing 
vessel bound for Australia. This voyage proved so de- 
lightful to the youthful adventurer that he remained at 
sea until he had developed into a seaman before the mast, 
in which service he visited nearly all the countries of the 
world, but in 1858 was wrecked off the coast of Texas, 
and after a hard struggle for life with the angry billows, 
was cast upon the shore near Corpus Chris ,ti. 

After this rather "salty" experience, Jack resolved to 
remain a landsman until some desirable position should 
offer him for an easier life. He was not long idle, how- 
ever, for occupation was readily found among the large 

G07 



608 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

cattle herders of Texas, which service soon introduced 
him to the wild life found only on the plains, and in 
which there was a congeniality and fascination peculiarly 
suited to his disposition. 

Jack was employed on a ranche in the Texas pan-han- 
dle, near the border line of the Indian Territory, where 
Indian cattle thieves were accustomed to make periodical 
depredations. On this ranche were also many head of 
horses, raised chiefly for herding purposes, and these 
animals required constant watchfulness from the herders 
to prevent them falling into the hands of covetous In- 
dians. In fact, many cow-boys were murdered by these 
pests of the ranche, so that the business of herder had 
become extremely hazardous in the pan-handle section. 

When Jack entered upon the dangerous duty of ranch- 
man, he expected trouble with the Indians, and was, 
therefore, prepared for it. Nor was he in anywise sur- 
prised when, a few months after his engagment, a large 
body of the red-skins came down upon him and his part- 
ner, with whoop and weapons, intent upon capturing the 
horses under Jack's charge. But the Indians were re- 
ceived with a cordiality little expected. Jack at once 
covered the rear, and while his partner drove the horses 
rapidly toward National Monument, Jack poured a deadly 
fire into the Indians, killing several, and thus checking 
pursuit. For this skilful and effective resistance he was 
well rewarded by the owner of the stock. Afterward 
Jack made several cattle drives to Abilene, and became 
one of Texas' most renowned rancheros. 

When the great civil war was declared, and thero was 
a mustering of Southern forces through the Southwest, 
Jack proffered his serviees to Gen. Floyd, by whom he 
was at once made "headquarters courier," and directly 
thereafter was promoted to chief of scouts under the" eel- 




609 



610 HEROES OF THE PLAINS. 

ebrated cavalry Colonel, J. B. Stuart. He served in this 
capacity for several years, and became noted throughout 
the Confederacy. 

At the close of hostilities Jack was employed as guide 
between the Colorado and Rio Grande rivers, and after 
pursuing this calling for several months made an extend- 
ed tour through Kansas and Nebraska for the purpose of 
so familiarizing himself with the country that he could 
competently guide parties through those territories (now 
States). 

In 1872 Jack was engaged as scout for the Government 
and in the following summer had charge of four hundred 
Pawnees who were engaged to operate against the Chey- 
ennes. It was while thus employed that he made the ac- 
quaintance of Buffalo Bill, with whom he scouted a con- 
siderable time and until the two became partners in ai\ 
enterprise conceived by Ned Buntline, as detailed in the 
" Life of Buffalo Bill." 

While Gen. Sheridan was organizing his campaign 
against the Northern Cheycnncs, Jack was employed aa 
hunter for the army, in which capacity he developed re- 
markable skill in killing antelope, which abounded on the 
prairies of Western Kansas at that time. The method 
employed for killing this most wary and fleet of North 
American game is well portrayed in the accompanying 
engraving. The killing of antelope is not so exciting as 
that of buffalo hunting, but it requires great caution and 
has much of genuine sport in it. 

During the Cheyenne war, and at the time of Custer's 
death, Jack was employed by the New York Herald to 
carry dispatches from the scene of hostilities to the near- 
est points for transmission, and performed these duties 
with such satisfaction that he received many flattering no- 
tices of praise from that paper. 




611 



